


If He Lived

by m0chih0re



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter Friendship, F/F, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Narcissa Black Malfoy, Gryffindor Draco Malfoy, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, James Potter Lives, James Potter is a Good Friend, James Potter is a good father, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Remus Lupin Lives, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Free from Azkaban, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius and Remus have a child, but thats for later, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 40,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0chih0re/pseuds/m0chih0re
Summary: October 31st, 1981 was a terrible yet great day for the wizarding world. The Dark Lord was finally defeated, but at what cost? The life of Lily Potter and James Potter, only James didn't die. Instead, James had been in a coma-like state after the attack from Voldemort. The majority of the Wizarding World has no clue about this news due to the Ministry fearing that Death Eaters would come after James. But once James awakes, all hell breaks loose. And his temper can be frightening.What if James Potter was never killed by Voldemort? What if Harry was allowed to have a happy childhood with his family? How many things would change?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 55
Kudos: 297





	1. The Attack

**October 31st, 1981**

It wasn't supposed to be a horrible day. Nothing bad was supposed to happen this night. Not when he believed his family to be safe from harm's way. Not when he believed that _he_ would never find them.

But this was one of the few times James Potter was wrong. Where he read the situation wrong and believed he was right. He was so wrong. Oh so very wrong.

Voldemort had found them. And he was coming to kill them. James wasn't sure how the Death Eaters found Peter, but he was worried about his friend. For his brother. Had they tortured him? And if so, for how long until he finally gave in? And did they kill them like how Voldemort was about to do to his family?

In James' panic, he told his wife to get their son and go. To leave. That he'd hold him back, for as long as he can. Only a few seconds, that could save them. It didn't matter to James then what happened to him, as long as Lily and Harry were safe. As long as they lived.

He knew if he died that Sirius would do anything in his power to watch over them. That he would help Lily with raising their child. James also knew he could count on Remus, even though he and Sirius had fought. Both believing either one of them could be the spy.

The spy...

It couldn't have been. Not him. James didn't want it to be any of them. But for it to be him.

But James didn't have much time to think of that possibility, because Voldemort was in his home. Voldemort was here to kill his family. And James wasn't going to allow that to happen, even if it meant he would die. He would die a thousand times if it meant Lily and Harry survived.

So when he saw Voldemort entering his home, he didn't hesitate to block the man's path. He didn't hesitate to throw himself in between the dark wizard and his wife and child. Even without a wand.

"Foolish boy!" Voldemort yelled out, and instead of the jet of green light James was expected, he was blinded by a fiery yellow instead. James felt pain rack through his body as he was slammed against a wall from the blast.

His body fell limply on the ground and he heard the high pitch laughter from the dark wizard. "I'll come back for you later, boy."

"No." James croaked. But it was too late. James began dragging himself up the stairs. Yelling to Lily. Yelling at Voldemort to spare his family. To not harm them. He could hear Lily doing the same. Begging the man not to hurt their son. James forced his body to stand, using the wall to support him as he tried to quickly get up the steps.

But it was too late.

He heard his wife scream. He felt his heart stop. He heard her fall. Lily. He killed Lily. His wife was gone. And he knew his son was next. "No!!" He felt himself scream out as he tried to force himself up the stairs. And before he could make it all the way up, there was a large blast of magic. Green light filled the house, and James felt his world crash around him.

"Harry!"

Despite his mind telling him Voldemort was still there, James didn't care. He had to get to Harry. Had to get to Lily. He needed to see them. He had to.

Once he forced himself up the stairs and into his son's room, a yell escaped him once he saw the body of his wife lying motionless as she stared up at the ceiling. "Lily." James choked out as he stumbled over to her. He absentmindedly held her face in his hands as he apologized to her over and over again.

Then he heard a soft whimper and his head shot up to look at his son's confused and sad eyes. "Harry." James felt relief wash over him despite everything else. "You're okay. Oh Merlin you're alright." James forced his body to once again stand and he looked around the room.

It was destroyed, to say the least, but the dark wizard who had come to kill his family was nowhere to be seen. This made James relax and worry more at the same time. But James had no time to think about it. Harry, his son, was alive. He was okay.

James reached into Harry's crib and held his son closely to him. James' body buckled beneath him as he ungracefully slid back onto the floor. "It's okay, Harry. I'm here. Dada's here. You're safe, Harry." The messy-haired man whispered to his son as he held him tightly.

James was clueless to the man that stood outside his home, staring at it in horror. Was clueless to how quickly the man believed the worst.

That man was none other than his best friend and brother, Sirius. Sirius was staring at the broken house in horror. He was terrified. Before he came here he had gone to check on Peter, only to find the house abandoned and empty. No sign of struggle.

And standing outside the home of the Potter's only confirmed Sirius's worst fear. Peter, their brother, betrayed them. He sold them to Voldemort. Sirius knew this, yet it was so hard for him to believe. Out of all of them, he least expected Peter. He had believed his own boyfriend to be the spy over Peter. But what a mistake that was.

Sirius quickly ran inside the home, looking around quickly. Hoping to find Potter's fine or not here at all. 'Maybe they got away in time.' He couldn't help but think ignorantly. He couldn't help but hope. That was all he had.

Sirius climbed up the stairs, his heart pounding loudly in his chest as he reached his godson's room. The door barely hanging onto its hinges. Sirius felt his heart sink. But despite his fears he opened the door and felt his breath get caught in his throat at the sight of his best friend sitting on the floor, bloody and holding his son next to his wife who wasn't breathing.

"James?"

James instantly looked up when he heard the voice of his brother. hazel eyes met gray and James felt all his emotions suddenly flood over him. He once again let out a strangled sob and broke. Harry, not knowing why exactly his father was crying, began to cry as well.

Sirius immediately ran over to the two and was soon in shock of how quickly James handed his son over to him. "Take him."

"What?" Sirius caught himself dumbly asking.

"Take him, Sirius. You're his godfather. Please." James looked at him, pleading. "He needs you."

"He needs you too, James! You can't leave him!" Sirius, even though angry at his friend, took his godson in his arms. "I'm not leaving him, Padfoot. I could never do that on purpose. But you need to take him. Please. Tell Dumbledore I'm here. That Voldemort attacked. That he tried to kill Harry. Please."

"I'll go to Hogwarts, then. With Harry. But James...Peter."

"Worry about Harry. Please. He's more important right now."

Sirius swallowed hard and looked at his best friend. "You better not die while I'm gone, Prongs."

James chuckled, ignoring the pain it brought him when he did so. He smiled tightly at Sirius and looked at Harry, whose big sad green eyes looked back at him. "Don't worry, Harry. I'm not leaving you." Harry reached out for his father and was saddened when Sirius stood.

"Padfoot's got you, Harry. You'll be safe with him."

The mention of his godfather's nickname seemed to calm the boy, only slightly. Harry's green eyes looked up at his godfather, who smiled sadly down at him. "Someone will be here for you soon, James. I promise." Sirius left the room quickly, and James was left by himself with his wife. 

She still lay motionless, her eyes now closed by James when he had held her face in his hands when he first found her. James let everything slowly sink in now that he knew his son was somewhere safe.

Peter.

There was no way he could've been the spy. James didn't want to believe it. It was impossible. But it was the only thing that was making sense. Only he could tell their location. And James knew deep down that Sirius had checked on him, had gone to see if Peter was okay.

He could tell by the tone of Sirius' voice when he spoke Peter's name. Filled with disgust and hurt. James cried. "Merlin...Lily. I'm so sorry."

James heard several cracks outside his home when he felt his eyes get heavy. 'I just need rest.' he thought to himself. 'Just a bit.'

Before his eyes shut he saw the face of Alastor Moody. And then he was enveloped in darkness. James was ignorant to how long he would be asleep. He had no idea that he would be asleep or 6 years. And he would be clueless to what happened to his friends and son. That is until he woke again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My senior year of high school I had come up with a story idea of James Potter living and taking care of Harry, and obviously I never did anything with it until now in my sophomore year of College. Being trapped inside with nothing else to do has given me a lot of time to plan this story out not only in my head, but in writing as well. 
> 
> I've always loved Harry Potter, seeing as I'm just as old as the first movie. The franchise has been a major part of my life and JKR has saddened and angered me with her opinions on certain matters. Plus, A LOT of the characters deserved better! Harry being one of them!
> 
> So yes, James Potter is alive and I know a lot of people have done this before! But most of those fic are him coming back to life instead of just simply surviving the attack. 
> 
> Warning for this story though, Wolfstar (Remus x Sirius for those who don't know) will be canon in this fic. And yes, I absolutely LOVE Tonks! I have nothing against that lovely woman! Being a Hufflepuff myself, I've got to show her love ya know? 
> 
> Another warning, if you adore Snape or something this story is NOT for you. I personally don't like the man. I don't like how Rowling wrote him, so therefore he will be bit of an asshole in this story. And I don't feel bad for it. 
> 
> Also there will be no Ron bashing, no Ginny Bashing, no Molly Weasley bashing, and absolutely no James bashing!! I refuse. No. 
> 
> Other ships I'm not sure about yet, but I have an idea. And no, I will not be taking requests. And no, I will not allow people to bash other ships either. I'm a multishipper and I'm open to a lot of things, so please don't hate any ship within the franchise. Unless it involves pedophilia or incest (which I've seen throughout the fandom and it's gross by the way)
> 
> Anyway! I hope you all enjoy this nonetheless! I'm planning on this being quite a lengthy fic. Let's see how that goes. 
> 
> -Haley/Lizzy


	2. Six Years

It was May 14th, 1987, the day after the full moon when he finally went to St. Mungo's to see James. His guilt and fear had kept him from going. He found it ridiculous and was ashamed of himself. 

Remus Lupin was a tired and lonely man. Ever since that horrid night in 1981, Remus felt utterly alone. Two of his friends died that night, one was sent to the hospital and then was declared to be in a rather deep sleep, and the other had been sent to Azkaban for the betrayal and murder of his friends. 

Remus' body ached as he made his way down the hospital corridor. Full moons have been much worse than they have ever been. The man had gotten a few new scars over the past couple of years from his transformations, and he would never admit how much his scars bothered him. His pride never allowed it. 

When he stepped into the room, he saw his friend lying on the bed. Motionless other than his chest slowly rising and falling. Remus could hear his heartbeat. Remus swallowed hard and walked towards James, and sat beside his bed. The werewolf sighed heavily and held his face in his hands. 

He remembers the night so well, finding out by letter that his friends were attacked by Voldemort. That his friend's wife, a woman he called a friend had died protecting her son. 

\-----

_ Remus was up north doing work for the order when the attack happened. Before he had received a letter from his former headmaster, he was thinking of his boyfriend. If he could even still call him that after they had both accused each other of being the spy. One of the things he regretted so much.  _

_ He knew deep down it wasn't Sirius. How could it of been? If it were up to him to choose between the three other Marauders, Remus would choose himself as well. Werewolves everywhere were joining Voldemort's side, so how could anyone not think it was him.  _

_ It couldn't be Peter. There was no way. Or at least that's what everyone ignorantly thought. And what he would think until six years into the future. But right now, he had no clue. Until an owl flew in with a letter in his talons. Remus grabbed the letter from the owl and handed its payment.  _

_ Remus wasn't sure what he was expecting the letter to say, but this was not it.  _

_ Remus, _

_ I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but earlier this night Voldemort had found the Potter's, and sadly Miss Lily Potter is no longer with us. Harry and James are alive, however. James is in St. Mungo's right now in a coma-like state, and Harry is with Lily's sister Petunia for the time being seeing as James is in no condition and Sirius isn't trustworthy.  _

_ Sirius had been taken into custody after they found him on a blown-up street with twelve dead muggles. I'm sorry Remus, but it seems it was Sirius who was the spy. It is still unbelievable to me personally, and I am asking the ministry to give him a trial to find out what had happened. But alas no one is listening to me right now.  _

_ The rest of the Wizarding World believe James to be dead. The Ministry believes it is the safest option for him at the moment, we are all worried Death Eaters might come after him and finish Voldemort's task at killing the Potter's.  _

_ You may return back home from your mission, seeing as there is no purpose for it anymore. Voldemort has been defeated. No one is sure how, but we can't expect to see him anytime soon. I recommend you go to visit James, even though he is not awake. I know he would want you there, Remus.  _

_ I hope you have safe travels, and you may come to me if you have more questions.  _

_ Sincerely,  _

_ Albus.  _

_ Remus felt his whole body shake as he read that letter. That night he cried, the next day he cried. He couldn't believe it. Lily was dead. Peter was dead. Sirius was in Azkaban. And James. He couldn't handle it. How would anyone handle that type of news? How could anyone go and see their friend in a horrible state knowing that they could've helped them somehow?  _

_ Remus didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't know for a long time what to do. Until he finally grew the courage to go see his friend years later, after feeling immensely guilty from not doing so. And hoped his friend had yet to wake to find him not there.  _

_ \----- _

Remus blinked away tears as he remembered that letter that had torn him apart. He had tried to help Albus in getting Sirius a trial, but no one would want to listen to a werewolf. And soon, Remus began to believe that Sirius really had done it. 

The only way to find out the truth was if James woke up. 

So every day from now on, Remus went to visit James. Just to sit there with him. Sometimes Remus would catch himself talking to James even though he knows he can't hear him. Remus sometimes would just sit in the quiet room and read, listening to James' heartbeat. Just to make sure it was still there. 

The slightest movement caught the werewolf's attention instantly. His head snapped up from his book and on the bed, his friend was currently on. And saw him stir a bit before his eyes opening. Remus sat up straight in his seat as James woke. 

James felt his eyes burn from the lights in the room, not being completely used to how bright they are. His body was stiff and he heard a couple of his bones crack as he moved. "Bloody hell," James mumbled as he forced himself to sit up. 

"James." 

James snapped his head over to his right, squinting. Trying to figure out who had said his name. The hazel-eyed man could make out light brown curls and instantly knew who had said his name. How could he not? He shared a dorm room with him for seven years. 

"Moony." James' voice was hoarse and scratchy and speaking caused him to start coughing. 

"Here." Remus had handed the man his glasses, along with some water. James quickly put his glasses on and chugged the water quickly. 

"Where's Sirius?" 

Remus felt his heart drop. How was he supposed to tell James? Why was it he was the one that had to tell him that their best friend, their brother had betrayed them and killed twelve muggles and another one of their brothers. Remus swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at James. 

"He's in Azkaban, James." 

"WHAT!?" James once again snapped his head over to Remus, but this time he could actually see him. He had gotten older, had gotten more scars. But he still looked like Remus, still looked like Moony. But he looked so tired. 

"James he betrayed you and Lily to Voldemort. He killed twelve muggles and Peter." 

"No. There's no way." James was shaking his head repeatedly. "He didn't betray us." 

"But he did, James." 

"No. He didn't, Remus! It wasn't him. He wasn't secret keeper, he couldn't tell Voldemort where we were." 

Remus felt his eyes grow wide. Sirius didn't sell them out? He wasn't secret keeper? Then who was? Then it hit Remus, and he felt his heart shatter all over again. 

"Peter? He did this? But, he said it was Sirius. He was yelling at him according to the witnesses..." 

"Then it was to make Sirius look guilty." James dryly said. His head hurt. His best friend, his brother was in Azkaban. For something, he didn't do. Well...he wasn't sure about the murders. There was no way Sirius would do something so rash. No matter how angry he was. Maybe Peter, but not innocent muggles. 

"Did he...did he actually murder those muggles?" James asked desperately. 

"I...I don't know. He never got a trial." 

James felt hear rise through his entire body. His chest tightened in rage. He didn't get a trial!? For all, they knew Sirius could be completely innocent! And he was rotting in Azkaban! And for what? Nothing, because the Ministry is too stupid to do something as simple as checking his wand or even use veritaserum! 

James was yelling. He was so angry. Not at Remus, and Remus knew this. James was just...angry. And he didn't blame him. He was angry himself. Angry at the Ministry, angry with Peter, angry with himself. James' yelling got the attention of many nurses and medi witches who tried to calm him down. But nothing worked. 

James was too livid. Too angry to calm down. He wanted to go to the Ministry. Right now and demand Sirius be given a trial. Demand that his best friend be freed. And when he saw Dumbledore enter the room, it only made James angrier. 

How could Albus not help Sirius more? How could he believe Sirius to be the traitor? How could Albus allow James' son to be sent with  _ those _ people!? Finding out where his son was just made everything worse. 

"No, Albus! I will not calm down! I want my son! I want my best friend to be granted a trial! Right. Now." James had somehow stood up. His body shaking as he glared up at the old wizard in front of him, Remus standing by his side. 

"James. I simply want you to calm down so that you may go to the Ministry and have a trial for Sirius. I'm sure if you were to go in there they won't deny that from you. Even if they did, you are a lot more stubborn than Remus or I." Albus simply smiled kindly at James. "And I never meant for Harry to stay there for long. But I figured he'd be safest there. And maybe Petunia had a change of heart." 

Remus didn't mean to laugh. He truly didn't. But he couldn't help it. Not after hearing all the horrid stories of Petunia Evans from Lily. It was impossible for that woman to treat her nephew kindly when she didn't even do that to her own sister. 

"So can I go to the Ministry now?" James was impatient, to say the least. But who could blame him? He was in a magical sleep for six years. Six bloody years. He was restless. 

"I think it would be unwise, James. The nurses need to check over you, make sure you are no longer injured." 

James groaned loudly and sat back down on his bed. Remus couldn't help but smile at his friend. "I'm sure once they're finished looking you over Prongs you'll be allowed to leave." James looked up at Remus, who had an understanding smile on his face, and sighed loudly. 

"Alright. Let's just get this over with, yeah?" 

\-----

A young man lay in a dirty cell, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. He sat there and thought. 

Thought about his friends. Thought about how he left his best friend alone to die. Thought about how he had blamed his boyfriend at the time to be the spy. Thought about how he had made his friends switch secret keepers to the one person that was the spy. He thought about his godson, who he wasn't sure what happened to. 

He thought about his bright green eyes looking up at him and crying out as he had handed him over to Hagrid. If only he stayed with him. If only he actually went to Hogwarts instead of going after Peter. So many things would've been different. 

But he didn't. Instead, he went after Peter and got framed for his crimes. He left James in his house to die. Hagrid hadn't told Dumbledore in time. James was gone. And it was his fault. Lily was gone. And it was his fault. 

And Remus was alone. And it was his fault. 

He wasn't guilty in the way the wizard population believed him to be. He was guilty in a different way. And that guilt will haunt him for the rest of his life. 

Sirius Black was many things, but he wasn't a murderer. He knew that deep down. But he let his friends down. Those friends who were more of a family to him than his actual family. And he let them down. 

When he heard footsteps getting closer to where he was being held, his immediate thought was that someone else was being placed in one of the cells. But to his surprise, the footsteps stopped at his, and his cell door opened. 

"Sirius Black, you are required at the Ministry of Magic to appear for your trial." Sirius' dull grey eyes made their way over to where the Auror's were standing with the dementors in toe. 

"Trial?" His voice was hoarse but still laced with confusion. Why wouldn't it be? How come all of a sudden he was granted a trial? Why now? Something changed. And he was about to find out. 


	3. Trial

James was furiously walking through the Ministry, Remus following him in tow James had put on some glamour charms on himself so that the press wouldn't follow him around. It wasn't that he wanted to keep the fact he was alive a secret. But having the press follow him around as he tried to get to where he wanted to go would've been a pain.

And James wasn't in the mood to deal with them if he were being honest.

James pushed his way through the reporters, unbeknownst to them who he was, and was able to quickly make his way through the ministry without being questioned by hundreds of reporters.

James and Remus made their way to their destination. No one was going to stop them, not when James looked like he could kill anyone who tried.

The young Potter burst his way into the Minister's office and stomped over to him. "I want Sirius to have a trial. Now." It was a question, Fudge realized, it was a demand.

"And why should I do that?"

"Because you have an innocent man in Azkaban. And I demand you give him the trial you refused to give him six years ago. And if you don't, I'll tell the whole wizarding world that you aloud an innocent man be sent to Azkaban to have his soul sucked out of him!" James knew it wasn't the greatest threat he could've come up with, but he knew that the Minister cared for his image. And if he ruined that image, he would be screwed.

"I-I'm sure I could work something out, Mr. Potter."

"Now."

"N-Now!? That's impossible!"

"I don't care. I want a trial. Now. You go get someone to get my brother. You gather the Wizengamot, now." Fudge stared up at James Potter and quickly nodded as he began to send out word to do as James wished.

James watched as two Aurors appeared quickly in the office, and quickly leave to retrieve Sirius. James had to roll his eyes at this like Sirius would be a danger to anyone. Really. James also rolled his eyes and scoffed a bit when he noticed how Fudge would warily look at Remus. Like he would attack him at any moment.

"Honestly, Fudge. Remus is the least of your worries. You should fear me attacking you more than him." James spat, sending the round-faced man a glare. James and Remus followed Fudge out of his office and went to the second level of the Ministry.

James and Remus entered the rather large courtroom and instantly saw the elderly witches and wizards staring down at them. James took note of Dumbledore sitting up with the rest, a soft smile on his face, and his eyes sparkling.

"James Fleamont Potter, it has come to our attention you requested a trial for one Sirius Black?" Dumbledore asked a smile heard through his voice.

"Yes sir. I believe him to be falsely imprisoned, and I had gotten word he was not given a trial when he was taken into custody the first time." James stated as calmly as he could, sitting down in one of the seats that were provided to him and Remus.

Before anyone else could question James on his reasons, Aurors entered the room dragging a man by the arms. From Remus' sharp inhale, James knew it was Sirius. He was almost unrecognizable. But deep down James knew it was his brother, and he hated seeing him in such a state.

The Aurors placed him in the chair in the middle of the room and stood on either side of him.

"Sirius Orion Black it has been requested by James Fleamont Potter for you to have a trial to hear what had happened the night of the 31st of October 1981." Amelia Bones spoke loudly, but her words were kind. Sirius' head had snapped up instantly at the mention of his best friend's name.

"James?" Sirius looked up at the Wizengamot, his once dull eyes filled with confusion. Sirius saw Dumbledore smile and point in a direction to Sirius' right. Sirius' grey eyes shifted over to where Albus was pointing and felt his breath get caught in his throat.

James was sitting there, and he looked angry. But when his eyes met his, his face softened instantly. The young Black stared in shock. The Prophet said he died. James was dead. But there he was, sitting in the courtroom. Demanding Sirius have a trial. The raven-haired man felt tears form in his eyes as he looked at his best friend.

"So, Mr. Black, is it true on the night of October 31st, 1981 that you went after Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes."

"Is it true when you sought him out, you cornered him in a muggle street?"

"Well...Yes."

"And did you cast a blasting curse that ended up killing Pettigrew?" 

"No."

"No?" Dumbledore was looking at Fudge as he asked Sirius these questions. Albus then turned to look at Sirius and gave him a gentle smile. "At this time, Sirius, were you or were you not the Potter's Secret Keeper?"

"I was at first."

"A-Ha!" Dumbledore held up his hand to shush Fudge, which worked and Sirius continued. "I made them switch secret keepers, I would've been too obvious and James agreed. So they made Peter their secret keeper instead."

Dumbledore turned to face James, who was now sitting up straighter. "Is this true, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes sir. Lily and I...we changed our secret keeper to Peter, thinking no one would suspect him. Everyone would've thought it would be Sirius, it was too obvious."

"You may continue with your story, Sirius," Albus said with a soft smile.

"Before I went to the Potter's, I went to check on Peter. No one had heard from him in a while and I was worried. When I went to where he was supposed to be hiding, it was empty. No sign of struggle. He just left. And I instantly knew that it was a bad sign, so I went to the Potter's and found it destroyed." Sirius swallowed hard and continued his story. "I went inside and found James holding Harry. I saw Lily. James. He asked me to take Harry, make sure he was safe. That he needed me. I told him that I would take Harry to Hogwarts and let Dumbledore know that he was there, only to be stopped by Hagrid. Hagrid instead took Harry to Dumbledore on my motorbike, and I went after Peter."

The Wizengamot all sat in silence for a few seconds but seemed to be forever for Sirius.

"May I see his wand?" Amelia Bones asked and was quickly handed Sirius' wand. "The last spell he should've used, if he is guilty, should be a blasting curse of some kind correct?" Everyone around her nodded and she sat up straighter. "And if it comes back that it is not?"

"Then how did Pettigrew die?" Someone asked. "All that was left was a finger!"

"He cut it off himself!" Sirius said hotly. "He's an animagus! He transformed before running off." 

"And how would you know he was an Animagus, Mr. Black?" Bones asked him curiously. Sirius swallowed hard and sighed. "Because I'm one myself. Helped the rat turn into one as well."

"So you're an unregistered animagus?"

"Didn't really have an opportunity to register, did I?"

Amelia sat back in her seat and looked over at James. "Mr. Potter, is what Mr. Black saying correct?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Peter, Sirius, and I all became animagi in our fifth year at Hogwarts. I was going to register once the war was over, scared a death eater would find out ya know? Plus...I've been in a coma-like state for the past six years. Couldn't really register if I wanted."

Amelia seemed pleased by this and casted a spell on Sirius' wand to see what spell was last used, and it came back to be a shielding spell. Not a blasting spell. "It seems Sirius has been telling the truth. We had imprisoned an innocent man." Albus said looking down at Sirius sadly.

"I had tried to tell you, Cornelius. And so had Mr. Lupin. But you wished to believe what was easy." Albus continued, looking over at the Minister of Magic who looked to be a bit paler than he was a few minutes ago. The mention of his (was) boyfriend caught Sirius' attention once more and he looked over at James, who was sitting next to Remus.

Sirius felt his heart drop by looking at Remus. He looked so tired and sad. Sirius knew he blamed himself for him being in Azkaban for so long. He knew Remus most likely began to believe Sirius was a murderer, and honestly, Sirius wasn't mad at him. He couldn't be. Sirius believed Remus to be the spy when it was really Peter.

Sirius had hurt Remus.

And yet Remus was sitting next to James, making sure he finally got a trial he deserved to have in the first place. He had even tried beforehand.

"Who here believes that Sirius Orion Black to be innocent and should be cleared of all charges?" Albus asked, raising his own hand high in the air. Sirius noticed instantly how way more than half the Wizengamot raised their hands. "And who here believes him to still be guilty and should be put back in Azkaban prison?" Albus asked and looked around the room.

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and the rest of the Wizengamot recognize that Sirius Orion Black be named an innocent man and shall be released from Azkaban prison. Your wand will be returned to you and 6,000 galleons will be given to you in compensation of our lack to give you a trial. Is there anything else you wish for us to do or know?"

Sirius stared up at Albus, no words able to leave his mouth from shock. "I wish that every one that is to be sent to Azkaban be given a trial beforehand, that way no more innocent people get falsely imprisoned."

Albus' eye twinkled and nodded at Sirius. "Very well, we will make sure that no one may go without a trial. You may come and reclaim your wand as well as go and clean yourself up so that you may join Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin in retrieving your godson, as I'm sure you'd love to accompany them. But make sure that before you or Mr. Potter leaves that you both register your animagus."

Sirius nodded vigorously and gladly accepted his wand back. And he was soon ushered somewhere within the Ministry to clean himself, to which he didn't complain. Once cleaned and changed into the muggle clothes that James had brought for him, he happily walked down the empty corridor and towards his two friends who were talking to each other at the end of it.

"Moony I'm sure Sirius doesn't hate you. Not sure where that idea came into your mind, really." Sirius raised a brow at this.

"I believed him to be a murderer, James!"

"Okay?"

Remus groaned and sat down on a bench, holding his face in his hands. James placed his hands on his hips and looked down at his friend. "Why is Moony being dramatic? I thought that was my thing."

"Sirius!" James instantly looked over at Sirius with a bright smile spread across his face. James walked to the shorter man and pulled him into a crushing hug, which Sirius gladly accepted and hugged back just as tightly. "I thought you were dead, mate," Sirius whispered.

"I told you I wasn't going to." James pulled away from Sirius and smiled wider. Sirius looked over to Remus, who was now standing anxiously. And instead of using words, Sirius pulled the much taller man into a much-needed hug.

There really was no need for words at that moment, the embrace between the two seemed to talk a thousand words. _ I'm sorry. I'm here now. I'm not leaving you again. I trust you. _

James beamed proudly at his two friends, and let them stay there for a few minutes before clapping his hands together loudly. "Alright, lads! Let's go get my son!"

Remus and Sirius pulled apart and nodded at James, and the three went on their way to Privet Drive to go be reunited with Harry once more.


	4. Reunited Once More

A small boy was being pushed back inside a house by his uncle. He wasn't sure how it had happened, but his uncle was positive he had done it.

One minute his cousin, Dudley, was pushing him around and playing 'Harry Hunting' with his friends outside. One minute they were threatening to dump a bucket of bug-filled rainwater on his head, to the bucket dumping itself completely on Dudley.

Harry's uncle, Vernon, was dragging him back inside the house by his ear demanding he tells him how he did it and how it happened. But Harry had no idea. He wasn't sure how it had happened. But Uncle Vernon wasn't having it and threw Harry into his cupboard and locked the door.

Harry sighed and sat on his bed, or what he called a bed anyway. He leaned his back against the wall and absentmindedly stared at the little door.

He was so deep in his own thoughts he didn't hear anyone knock on the door. He had no idea about the strangers on the other side of the door, banging on it until Uncle Vernon went and answered it.

The only reason Harry knew someone was there was because he heard his uncle begin to yell frantically. "Get out of my house! Get out!" Harry sat up straight and quickly, but quietly, made his way to his door, and began to try and look through the little vent to see what was happening. 

"I don't think so, Dursley. You know why I'm here, and I'm not leaving."

That voice seemed strangely familiar to Harry like he's heard it before in a dream. He saw his uncle backing away from the door quickly, and saw three figures entering the home. Harry couldn't see their faces, only their bodies. Two of the figure followed Vernon into the living room where his aunt was, and heard her scream.

One of the people stayed behind and stood in front of his door. Harry inhaled sharply when he saw them bend down to look at him. The small boy pressed his body close to the wall and held his breath, afraid of what was going to happen.

\-----

James Potter apparates to the place Dumbledore had told him his son was staying, his two best friends followed quickly behind him. James heard Sirius groan once he appeared. "Why is it so....so"

"Bland?" Remus offered, looking over at Sirius with a smirk.

"Too bland. Muggles like living here? Everything is so grey."

"Petunia would like living here," James growled. Sirius rolled his eyes at this and followed his friend up to one of the many houses that looked the exact same as all the others. It was driving Sirius mad. Why would anyone want to be like everyone else? Who what's to be normal?

The group walked up to the door and once there James made sure to knock loudly. Remus could hear the family on the other side of the door, and could also hear the mumbling of a very angry man.

Once the door swung open the Marauders were greeted by a very round and angry man, Remus thought he closely resembled a walrus. "What do you want?" The man gruffed, glaring heavily at them.

"I'm sorry, Dursley. Do you not remember me?" James asked in a mocking tone as he stepped a bit closer to the round man. Durley's eyes bulged out of his head and he stepped back a bit in shock. "You!" He began. "Get out of my house! Get out!"

"I don't think so, Dursley. You know why I'm here, and I'm not leaving." James threatened, pointing his wand at the man's chest. This caused him to back away quickly from James and lead them into the living room where his wife was sitting anxiously with their son. And when her eyes landed on him, she screamed.

Remus didn't follow them into the living room. Something, or someone, caught his attention before he could make it there. He could hear someone's heartbeat close to him. He could hear their shaky breathing. Remus's bent down in front of the small cupboard under the stairs and saw bright green eyes staring through.

Remus stared in shock as James began yelling at the Dursley's behind him. Remus reached out to unlock the small door, and slowly opened it. And when he saw who was inside he automatically knew it was Harry. Not just because he was the spitting image of James, but because he saw Lily's eyes staring back at him in fear. And that hurt Remus' heart.

But the fear quickly went away in Harry's eyes as he stared up at him. And after a few seconds of them both staring at each other, Harry subconsciously reached up to touch his scar on his forehead. "You're like me." He finally spoke, his voice small. "You have a scar too."

Remus had to swallow the lump in his throat and he smiled kindly at Harry. "I do, Harry. You're right. But I'm afraid I have more scars than you."

"You know my name?" Harry's bright eyes grew wide once more and Remus couldn't help but chuckle.

"Remus? What are you doing?" Remus turned to look at Sirius, Petunia standing behind him. "I'm talking to your godson, Pads." Remus began standing up now, his back beginning to hurt. "I'm guessing this is where he stays, Petunia?"

"You kept my godson in a cupboard!?" Sirius' tone was deadly as he turned quickly to look at Petunia. Petunia backed away quickly, but she once again was faced by James. Who was now angrier than he was before.

"I have a godfather?" Harry was now standing out of the door, looking up at Remus with curious eyes. "Yes you do, Harry," Remus said kindly and pointed to Sirius who was looking at Harry with shock. "He's right there. His name is Sirius."

"Sirius? But didn't you call him Pads?" Remus' smile only grew wider. Sirius walked over to the two and knelt in front of Harry. "Hello, Harry."

"Hello." His voice was small, and he looked a bit shy. Apparently not used to this much attention. "We're both here with your dad, mate. We're taking you home."

"My dad? But...Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia said he and mum were dead. That they had died in a car crash." Sirius' grey eyes flashed with anger but quickly went away. How many lies have they told this boy? How much have they mistreated him? Sirius couldn't help but feel like this was his fault. If he hadn't made Lily and James switch secret keepers if he didn't go after Peter and just stayed with Harry instead then he wouldn't have been treated like this.

Sirius felt someone place a firm hand on his shoulder and knew it was Remus. He was always able to tell what Sirius was thinking and how he was feeling. His presence helped those thoughts go away.

"No, Harry. Your dad is alive. He's currently yelling at your uncle."

"That's him?" Harry's eyes grew wide and looked in the direction of the living room. "He's here?" Harry looked up at Remus this time, who nodded at him and smiled. Remus could tell Harry didn't know what to do, or how to react. He was told his whole life that his father was dead, how would anyone react when they found out that their parent was in fact alive.

"What about my mum?"

Remus' smile faded and he sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. But it's just your dad." Instead of being upset, Harry nodded his head and smiled for the first time in front of Remus and Sirius. "Can I go and meet him?" His voice was hopeful and sounded a bit scared, like the two men in front of him would say no. But how could anyone say no to those big bright green eyes?

"Of course, Prongslet!" Sirius stood up quickly and placed his hands on his hips, looking down at his godson happily. Harry looked over at Remus and shyly took the man's hand in his, which caused Remus to smile.

Both Remus and Sirius led the youngest Potter to where is dead was angrily talking to Vernon and Petunia.

"I don't bloody well care if you didn't like me or Lily, Petunia! He's a child!" Remus watched as Harry looked at his father with wide eyes. Harry's grip on Remus' hand got tighter as he watched his father.

"Hey, James," Sirius called out.

"Not now, Sirius."

"James, honestly."

James continued to angrily argue with Vernon and Sirius glared at the back of James' head.

"Prongs! James! Jamie! Potter! Antlers!"

"Sirius!!" James turned around and glared at Sirius, who simply smirked at him. "What do you want!?"

"Your son wants to meet you, you arse."

"Padfoot, language." Remus scolded, causing Harry to laugh. James' eyes automatically landed on Harry and all anger seemed to melt away. Now feeling shy all of a sudden, Harry tried to hide behind Remus which caused Sirius to chuckle.

Remus placed his hand on Harry's back and forced him back in front, giving him an encouraging smile. "Your godfather and I are going to have some choice words with your Aunt and Uncle to give you and your dad some time, okay Harry?" Harry looked up at Remus and nodded, gripping the edge of his baggy shirt which was once his cousins.

Remus and Sirius walked over to the Dursley's and James walked closer to Harry and knelt down in front of him. "Hello, Harry," James whispered as he looked at his son with sad eyes. James didn't know how Harry would react, wasn't sure what to expect. But it wasn't this.

Harry had flung his small body to his father and wrapped his arms around his neck. If Harry wasn't as small as he was, he would've knocked James down. But only because he hadn't seen it coming. "I thought you were dead," Harry whispered, and that had broken James' heart.

"Is that what they told you, Harry?" James felt Harry nod and cling onto him tighter. James didn't have any more anger left in him to yell at his sister-in-law. He only wanted to get Harry out of this place, far away from this place. "Do you have anything you need to grab before we leave, Harry?" James asked quietly looking at his son.

Harry shook his head and smiled at his dad. "No. I don't have much."

"I swear once you're settled in our new home I'm going to buy you whatever you want, Harry."

"You don't need to."

"Nonsense." James scoffed and shook his head. "I'm guessing they also didn't tell you that you're a wizard?"

"A what?"

"A wizard." James smiled brightly at his son. "You, Padfoot, Moony, and I. We're all wizards you see."

"Moony?" Harry tilted his head in confusion at the name. "Remus." Harry made an 'O' with his mouth and looked over at the curly-haired man talking calmly to his uncle, but looked angry. "I'll explain more when we go home, yeah?"

"Home," Harry said in a dreamy-like tone and then nodded frantically at his dad. James smiled wide and stood up, picking up Harry in the process which caused the young boy to giggle. "Now let's get your uncles and leave. I don't want to stay here much longer than we need. Don't you agree, Harry?"

Harry once again nodded at his dad and smiled.

"Moony! Padfoot! Let's go." Remus and Sirius turned to look at James and smiled when they saw him holding his son who looked identical to his father. Both having extremely messy hair and crooked smiles. The only differences between the two were their eye color and the fact James' skin was a shade darker than Harry's, but not by much.

Sirius grinned widely and he and Remus followed the Potter's out of the Dursley's home and right back outside in the cold Britain air. "Alright, Harry. I want you to hold on tightly to me, okay? I'm going to apparate." Harry looked at his father confused, but nodded his head anyway and clung on tightly to his father.

Soon James was gone with a loud crack, and Sirius and Remus quickly followed behind their friend. 


	5. Mrs. Weasley

Everyday Harry woke up, he was afraid he would be back at the Dursley's in the cupboard under the stairs. Afraid his father wasn't actually alive and that his aunt and uncle had been telling him the truth, that he had died along with his mother.

So every time Harry would wake up and would worry that when he woke he'd be in that nasty cupboard. Harry woke up every day with this feeling, this fear. But it never stopped him from being optimistic, from ignoring his mind telling him this was all a dream. Because every time he would quietly go down the stairs in his new home he would see his Uncle Moony sitting at the table drinking tea.

His father had told him one day that the man with the brown curly hair, whose name was Remus, was his Uncle. He wasn't his father's brother by blood, but nonetheless, they were brothers. They've known each other since they were eleven. Which to Harry seemed like a very long time to know someone.

Harry quietly watched Remus, scared he would disturb the man if he made too much noise. He was yelled at a lot by his Uncle Vernon for disturbing him, and Harry didn't want to make Remus mad. Harry liked Remus, he was nice and smelled like chocolate.

But of course, Remus knew Harry was there, even if the boy wasn't even making a sound Remus could hear him. His frantic little heartbeat gave him away.

"Good morning, Harry." Remus looked up from his copy of the Daily Prophet and smiled kindly at the small messy-haired boy in front of him. "Sleep well?"

Harry looked up at Remus and nodded his head. Now that Remus was looking at Harry, the boy could see just how tired the man looked. His skin seemed paler than usual and he looked sick. This had worried Harry, scared that Remus was very ill but wasn't telling anyone about it.

"You alright Harry?" Remus asked seeing the boy look at him with a lot of concern that Remus has seen before. The concern filling his eyes reminded Remus a lot of Lily, how her eyes would widen and seem distant when she was worried or scared. Harry shared that with her, his eyes gave him away as they did with his mother.

"Are you?" Harry asked looking up at him.

"I'm just fine, Harry."

"Are you sure, Moony? Do you want me to get dad or Padfoot?" Remus smiled at the boy's concern, feeling that the small boy already trusts him immensely and is worried for him. It made Remus feel loved, even though Harry had only met him barely a month ago. That was something he shared in common with his father, loving people immensely and unconditionally.

"I'm sure, Harry. You don't need to worry about me so much."

"But we're family...aren't we?" Harry asked hesitantly, which Remus immediately caught on to.

"Of course we are, I just don't want you to worry over me so much."

"But that's what family does. That's what dad told me."

"And your dad worried over every little thing, Prongslet!" The sound of Sirius' voice made both Harry and Remus look towards him and smile brightly.

"And for good reason, Padfoot!" James said as he walked beside him, throwing an arm around his friend's shoulder. "You lot are always getting yourselves hurt."

"You're one to talk, Prongs," Remus said dryly, remembering all the times James was in the hospital wing due to him getting injured one way or another. Whether it was from the pranks they would pull or from Quidditch.

"Did dad get hurt a lot?" Harry asked looking back over at Remus, who simply smiled at Harry. "Yes. He was always in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, though he never liked being there."

"And for good reason!"

Harry laughed and smiled brightly at the three men. He had never felt so loved before, never knew he had this family outside of the Dursley's and he was so happy that they had come back for him. That they didn't forget him.

\------

"Alright, Harry." His father began, kneeling in front of Harry. "I've asked an old friend of mine if you could go over for the night. Moony, Padfoot, and I have some things we need to do."

"You're leaving?" Harry's sad tone instantly broke James' heart. "Why? Where are you going? Are you going to come back? Why can't I stay with you?"

"Harry, calm down! 'Course I'm gonna come back." James grabbed his son's shoulders and smiled softly at him. Harry looked at his dad with big, sad green eyes and James had to swallow a lump in his throat. He really hated leaving Harry right after he just got him back, but he had to leave him with Molly.

Not only was it because of the full moon tonight, but because it would give Harry a nice opportunity to make some friends with Molly's kids as well.

"I want you to make some friends, okay? Molly has a lot of children and has a son your age named Ron. I'll be there to get you in the morning."

"That's not the only reason, is it?"

James chuckled lowly and shook his head. "You're too smart for your good, like your mum." The lump in his throat once again appeared at the mention of Lily but quickly forced it down.

"Is it Moony? Is he okay?"

"Moony is fine, Harry. If he wants to tell you, he will let you know when I bring you back home. Okay?" Harry nodded "Now come on, I'm sure Molly is waiting for us." Harry nodded at his father and grabbed hold of the man's hand and followed him over to their fireplace, preparing himself for whatever "floo" was.

James picked his son up and held him close. "Ready, Harry?"

"Ready."

"The Burrow!" James yelled out as he threw down the floo powder, and both Potter's were engulfed in green flames and quickly transported to the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family. James set Harry down and they both stepped out of the fireplace, both taking their glasses off and cleaning them.

"I've got to remember to take my glasses off whenever I use that," James mumbled as he placed his glasses back on, only to be quickly crushed in a tight hug from Molly Weasley. She was a rather short and chubby woman, James was close to a foot taller than her. But it didn't stop her from grabbing the man's face and inspecting him closely.

"Oh, James it is so good to see you after all these years!" Molly exclaimed pulling his face down and kissing him on the cheek in a very motherly way. "It's good to see you too, Molly. Thank you for letting Harry stay here for the night. I appreciate it a lot."

"Oh of course! No need to thank me, James. You, Remus, Sirius, and Harry are always welcome here." Molly smiled widely at James and looked over at Harry and smiled warmly at him. "Hello Harry, dear. It is so nice to finally meet you. Remus wasn't lying when he said you looked like your father."

Harry smiled shyly and looked down a bit, not used to compliments. Something James needed to work on, he figured. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

"So polite!" Molly complimented once more and turned and beamed at James. "Thank you once again for letting Harry stay here, Molly. I'll make it up to you some way. But I can't stay much longer." James anxiously looked over at the window and saw how quickly the sky was turning dark. "I must be off, Molly. Harry, you behave for Mrs. Weasley, yeah? Don't give her too much trouble."

"I'm sure Harry will be no trouble, James."

James smiled down at Harry and pulled the small boy into his arms and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "I mean it, Harry. You be good."

"Of course, dad," Harry mumbled. "You'll be back to pick me up tomorrow morning, right?"

"'Course, Harry." James, this time, kissed the side of Harry's head and pulled away from his son and made his way back to the fireplace. "I'll be back in the morning, Molly. Tell Arthur I said hello!" And with that James was gone, and Harry felt a very empty feeling in his chest. The young Potter stared at the place where his father was once standing before he disappeared in the green flames.

"Come on Harry, dear. I'm sure the kids would love to meet you." Harry looked up at Molly and nodded, following hear outside the small cozy home and outside where Harry could hear multiple voices yelling to each other.

"Boys!! Ginny!!" Mrs. Weasley called out. "Harry's here!"

Soon Harry saw many kids around different ages running towards the two. The group all shared the same blazing red hair and pale skin he noticed that Mrs. Weasley had as well. Feeling very shy, and scared, Harry hid his small body behind Molly. Hoping the hoard of Weasley children wouldn't spot him.

"Oh, Harry it's all right," Molly said pulling him forward but placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Once Molly saw all her children standing in front of her she smiled widely.

"Alright Weasley's! This is Harry." Molly began motioning to Harry who gave a small wave. "And Harry these are my children! Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny." Molly pointed to each of her children with a proud smile on her face and Harry once again waved at all of them.

"Hello there Harry!" The taller, much older looking Weasley sibling said. His name was Bill, according to Mrs. Weasley, and he kind of reminded Harry a bit of Sirius in a way. His hair was long and he had a bright smirk plastered on his face. Now if anyone were to really remind Harry of Sirius, it was the two twins. Fred and George who both shared a mischievous grin that Harry has seen on both Sirius and his father.

Charlie looks polite and kind. Percy seemed a bit stuck up to Harry, it kind of reminded him of Aunt Petunia. But Harry was sure Percy wasn't as bad as his aunt. No one could be as bad as her. Ron seemed shy, like Harry, but also seemed glad to have a boy around his age around for once. And Harry couldn't help but smile brightly at him. Something deep down told him that he and Ron would get on just fine. And then Ginny seemed kind and quiet, though she seemed to be attached to Fred and George at the hip, not that it was a bad thing.

If Harry had a younger sister he would've loved to have her be attached to him. To look up at him like Ginny was doing with those two. And to all her brothers really.

"Now I want you all to play nice with Harry, his father wanted you lot to be friends!" Molly smiled brightly. "Yes, mum!" All Weasley's yelled, smiling brightly at their mother. "Very good! Ron, Harry will be staying in your room tonight. It is clean, right?"

"Yes, mum"

"Good!" Molly smiled brightly once more at her children and went back inside, leaving Harry alone with seven Weasley's. Not really knowing what to do, due to the fact he never really interacted with kids around his age unless they were picking on him, Harry just stood there quietly as he waited to see what they would do. And to his surprise, Ron walked right up to him and grabbed his wrist gently.

"Come on then, Harry! Let's play some Quidditch with my brothers!" Ron said excitedly. "You know how to play, right? If not we can teach you!" Harry nodded and smiled kindly. "My dad and uncle taught me how to play a week ago. Both said I was a natural or somethin'. Not really sure about that though."

"Oh please!" Bill said laughing a bit. "You're a Potter, yeah? Your dad was bloody brilliant. Got a trophy for Chaser his second year!"

"He did?" Harry's eyes lit up and smiled brightly. He remembers his dad going on about how he was good at Quidditch but didn't know he was _that_ good. 


	6. Moony's Scars

Golden light flickered it's way through the young Weasley's room, signaling the boy's that it was morning. Out of the two, Harry was the only one to wake from the light shining its way into the room. A smile formed on Harry's face as he remembers the previous day's events.

The Weasley's were all very kind to Harry, and he enjoyed their company a lot. He and Ron had grown a quick bond in a short period of time, the two quickly growing inseparable. That had made Molly smile widely as she made a mental note to herself to tell James when he came the following morning to pick up his son. Molly knows James was worried about Harry, so telling him he quickly made a friend in Ron would most likely ease his nerves.

Harry stared up at the ceiling of Ron's room, patiently waiting for his friend to wake up. Not wanting to be the one to wake him. Maybe some point in the future Harry would have no problem waking up the red-head. But right now, Harry would lay patiently for his friend.

Friend.

Harry really had a friend! He couldn't believe it. This was the first time anyone ever wanted to be his friend. But then again Dudley wasn't around to threaten Ron into ignoring Harry or picking on him as well. But another thing was that he and Ron bonded so quickly with each other. They had a lot in common, like their love for Quidditch (even if Harry just learned about it, he liked the sport already.), they both enjoy playing games, running around, and a lot of other things young boys enjoy doing.

Sure the two boys also had a few differences, but Harry figures that's what had made the boys bond so quickly. They completed each other in a way. Harry remembers his father saying he had felt the same way when he met Sirius on the Hogwarts express when they were eleven, and Harry hoped that he and Ron would be best friends like his dad and Sirius were.

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Mrs. Weasley yelling up to them. "Harry, dear! Your father is here!" Harry stood up quickly and smiled widely. He quickly got changed, and as he was doing so Ron had woken up and began to change as well.

The two boys made their way down the stairs and Harry ran right to his father smiling brightly. "Dad!" the young boy yelled out as he flung himself to his father.

"Hey, kiddo!" James said happily as he picked his son up and held him close. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Ron and I played Quidditch with his brothers! They were all really nice. Mrs. Weasley was also really nice! I like her a lot."

Molly beamed when she heard Harry liked her. She was a bit worried the small boy wouldn't like her that much, afraid she may have given him the wrong impression of her or something. But hearing that he liked her filled her with so much joy and love. She had instantly felt a motherly protection for the boy, not wanting anything to hurt him or make him uncomfortable. Especially after what James had briefly told her about the relative he used to live with, warning her that he might flinch a bit with new contact.

It had broken Molly's heart. But Harry never flinched from her, he flinched once from Percy and a couple of times from Bill and Charlie. But none of her boys took it to heart, knowing that he was shy and probably scared by older kids. Harry quickly grew used to them though, and soon didn't flinch or look at any of them shyly.

Harry felt accepted and wanted in this home, not that he didn't with his dad and uncles. Because he did. But the Weasley's were all so kind to him, and Harry thought Mr. Weasley was funny sometimes too. He liked them all. And he hoped he'd see them more often too.

"I'm glad you had fun, kid!" Harry beamed at his dad and turned to look at Molly with the same bright and kind filled smile. "You lot are welcome here anytime!" James shared the same bright smile his son had and said, "Thank you so much, Molly! Would you be fine with him coming back next month?"

"Of course!" Molly instantly replied, not needing to think about it. She loved having Harry over, his calm and quiet personality helped balance a bit of the chaotic Weasley energy. Harry may look like his father, but he acted so much like Lily at times. Molly had met Lily only a couple times through Order meetings, and the young girl had been pleasant and kind. Harry was just as pleasant and kind.

"Alright Harry, go say your goodbyes. Your uncles miss you." James put Harry down, who nodded and quickly ran over to Ron to say his goodbyes to his new friend. Harry couldn't wait to tell Sirius and Remus about the Weasley's. Once Harry said bye to all the Weasley's he made his way back to his dad who quickly picked him up and made his way over to the fireplace.

"We'll hopefully see you soon, Molly!"

"I do hope so, James! You and your family are always welcome!" And with that James and Harry were back home. Harry wiggled his way out of his father's arms and ran to the kitchen, where Sirius was tiredly sitting glaring at the wall in front of him. The man was so immersed in his own thoughts, yelling at himself for being up so early after being up all night, that he didn't notice the small Potter until the small boy yelled to him.

"Padfoot!" Sirius' head snapped over to Harry and his glare instantly turned into a bright smile. Or as bright as a tired man could smile.

"Prongslet!" Sirius stood up and quickly picked Harry up into his arms and held him tightly. "I missed you, Prongslet!"

"I was hardly gone a day, Sirius!" Harry laughed at his godfather's dramatic-ness.

"Alright you two, keep your voices down. Moony is still in bed." James said quietly, walking over to the two and smiling sadly. Sirius' heart dropped as he remembered that Remus was in bed resting from last night. According to Remus, it was the best full moon he had in six years. Which made Sirius feel even more guilty for landing himself in Azkaban.

"Speaking of Moony, I need to go check on him," Sirius said in a small voice as he placed Harry back down. "Why? What happened to Uncle Remus? Is he okay?" Harry looked between his father and godfather, worried for his uncle.

"He's okay, Harry. He's just tired and sore right now and needs some rest." James explained, but that didn't seem to calm Harry down. It made him worry more for Remus, which made both Sirius and James' hearts clench.

"Why is Harry so worried?" The sound of Remus' voice made Harry turn quickly to him, and he smiled brightly at him. "Uncle Moony! You're okay!"

"'Course I'm okay, Harry." Remus smiled kindly at the boy who had run over to him and hugged the tall man's legs. Remus placed a hand on Harry's head and smiled fondly at the young Potter. He could hear Harry asking what was wrong if he was okay. So Remus decided to come down to ease the boy's worries, not that Remus was tired anymore anyway. He had gotten enough rest and he wasn't badly injured either. Just a bit sore from transforming.

But other than that, the wolf hadn't tried to hurt him this time. The wolf was happy this month due to the fact that two members from it's "pack" were with him once more. Though Remus would never tell James that the wolf had missed Sirius more. It'd cause an uproar. And honestly, Remus isn't in the mood to deal with that.

"How'd you get your scars, Uncle Moony?" Harry whispered, only allowing Remus to hear the question. Remus sighed heavily and looked down at Harry, who was looking up at him with sad concerned eyes. "Let's go to the sitting room, yeah?" Remus asked and Harry nodded, grabbing Remus' hand and following him into the sitting area.

Sirius and James watched the two leave, then turned to face each other. Both looking at one another confused before shrugging and following them both. James saw Harry sitting close to Remus on the couch, looking up at him. Remus once again sighed and looked down at Harry sadly.

"Something happens to me once a month that I can't stop. It's been happening since I was four years old, Harry." Harry frowned at this. "I hurt myself, and I can hurt others. I..." Remus trailed off a bit, becoming scared to tell the young boy what monster he was. Scared Harry would no longer want to be anywhere near him. But to his surprise, Harry hugged him and clung onto him. "You can tell me, Moony."

"I'm a werewolf."

Harry pulled away from Remus and looked up at him with an unreadable expression. All three men held their breath as they waited to see how Harry would react to the news of one of his uncles being a werewolf. But Harry's expression was unreadable, it was hard to tell what the young boy was thinking.

"Is that why I was at the Weasley's last night?" Remus blinked down at Harry before nodding his head. "Did you get hurt?" Remus shook his head. "Not...not this time, no."

"So you've been hurt before. That's why you have scars?" Remus nods and Harry stares up at him. "Do they still hurt?"

"No, they don't."

Harry hummed and leaned against Remus, shocking him a bit but releasing the breath he was holding in. "Is it scary?" Harry's voice was quiet, but he looked up at Remus with curiosity. "Yeah, it's scary. And dangerous."

"Then you must be really brave to go through that every month, Moony." Harry smiled kindly at him. "Your nickname makes a lot more sense now." Harry laughed at the realization of the name meaning and hugged his uncle once more. "You were scared I would be afraid of you, right?"

"Yes."

"I understand why, but...Uncle Remus, you wear sweaters and give me chocolate. I don't think I can be scared of you."

And at that James and Sirius laughed, causing Harry to laugh and Remus to smile fondly at the young boy. James sat down on the other side of his son and smiled proudly at him. "I'm very proud of you, Harry. A lot of people are deathly afraid of people like your Uncle, even when it isn't the full moon."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed and his nose staunched a bit, making him look like James when you tell him something that either doesn't make sense or something he finds stupid. "That's stupid. Uncle Remus isn't dangerous right now. And it's not like he means it..." Harry looked a bit annoyed at the thought of people being scared of his Uncle Moony or treating him differently. It was stupid. And Harry hated it.

"That may be that case, Prongslet but you can't tell anyone about Moony. Okay?" Sirius asked as he sat on the other side of Remus. "Why would I tell anyone? It's not my secret to tell."

"You are your father's boy," Sirius said fondly, smirking over at James who looked proud at his son. James knew the news of Remus being a werewolf would most likely be a very big shock to Harry, but the young boy didn't freak out, didn't seem scared. He was accepting and wanted to make sure Remus was okay. That's all Harry seemed to care about, was Remus.

The rest of the day Harry spent asking Remus small questions about his "furry little problem, that's what Sirius had called it anyway and Harry thought it was funny. But Harry also told all three men about his night at the Weasley's and how Fred and George had reminded him of his dad and godfather. Which Remus found hilarious but also scary at the same time.

One of James and one of Sirius was enough.

Remus internally wished McGonagall all the luck she would need when Fred and George finally started Hogwarts. She was going to need it. 


	7. Birthday Boy

Harry woke up, jumping out of bed with a fright at the sudden screaming from his father and his godfather jumping on him in his dog form (when he found out his godfather could turn into a dog he was excited but confused at the same time. I mean...who wouldn't be?). Harry's eyes were wide as he stared at the blurry figure of his godfather barking at him.

"You guys are going to give the poor kid a heart attack," Remus said as he leaned against the door frame, watching Sirius and James with an amused smile plastered on his scarred face.

Sirius turned back into a man and smiled over at Remus. "But it's his birthday! We have to surprise him Moony!" Harry reached over for his glasses and placed them on his face, then looked up at his dad with wide eyes...still.

"My birthday? It's today?"

"Yup!" Sirius said excitedly. "You have officially turned seven!" Harry was pulled into a tight hug from his godfather, which caused him to laugh. James sat down on his son's bed and wrapped an arm around the small boy once Sirius released him. "Happy Birthday, Harry." James kissed Harry's hairline and leaned his head on top of his.

"Thanks, Dad," Harry said happily. Harry's seventh birthday had already been the best one he has had so far. Usually, during his birthday no one would bat an eye at him, the Dursley's would just simply ignore him and make him cook their food, clean their house, and would push him around a bit. Being woke up by his godfather and father immediately topped any other birthday he had.

This family. This was enough for him. He didn't need anything else.

"The Weasley's should be here soon!" Sirius said with a clap of his hands, smiling brightly. Harry looked at Sirius with an eyebrow raised and wide eyes. "The Weasley's? They're coming here?"

"Of course, Prongslet!"

Harry couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. Spending his first birthday with family and friends sounded like an amazing day to him already. He never had spent a birthday with friends before. He never really had people that cared enough. But know he did. And he was beyond thrilled.

The three men left Harry to get washed and changed for the little party they decided to have for him. Harry at first was very against this, he didn't want them to spend so much time and money on him. Just having them here with him was enough. He didn't need a party. He didn't need gifts. Finally having a family was enough for him. It was all he needed.

But alas James wasn't having any of it. He had missed six of his son's birthdays, and he didn't want to miss anymore. He wanted to make each of his birthdays fantastic to make up for the lost time, to make up for the fact that Harry had to stay and live with the Dursley's instead of him. Where he should have been.

Harry should have never have lived with those people, Harry should've always been with James. Or Sirius. Or Remus. Not Vernon and Petunia.

As Harry was still getting ready, the Weasley's flooed into his home. He saw the Weasley children's faces light up as they looked around. James smiled brightly and placed his hands on his hips. "Hello, Weasley's! Welcome to Potter Manor." He greeted.

Potter Manor, this was the place James grew up in. It wasn't huge like other families' manors, but it was bigger than the Burrow. James watched as the children looked around wide-eyed, Bill and Charlie looking at a few pictures on the mantel with amused smiles on their faces.

James spotted the two twins, and his eyes lit up. "You two must be Fred and George." He smirked ever so slightly, but someone beside him saw it. And cleared their throat to get his attention. James turned to Remus with an innocent smile plastered on his face, but the werewolf didn't buy it. "What? Harry talked about them a lot!" James defended.

"Uh-huh."

Sirius soon entered the room, well more like swaggered his way into the room, with Harry following close behind. "Ron!" Harry ran past his father and hugged his friend tightly, who automatically hugged him back and laughed. "Happy birthday, Harry!" Ron said happily smiling at his friend brightly, which Harry automatically returned.

James smiled proudly at the two boys and looked over at Arthur and Molly. "Would you lot like a tour?" The children of course nodded immediately at James' question. "If you don't mind, James. It would be lovely." Molly said as she took hold of her husband's arm.

"Then follow me, Weasley's!" James said, waving his hand for them to follow him.

Sirius watched the sea of gingers follow James out of the sitting room, and he felt himself smile fondly at the family. Sirius would never admit it out loud, but he had always wanted that. A family. He knew he had one with James, he always had. But the feeling Sirius had was different than that, it wasn't a family he necessarily wanted. But deep down he knew what it was.

He felt it every time he saw Harry. Every time the boy smiled at him, hugged him, or even just sat in the same room as him. He felt it. It grew more whenever he saw Harry and Remus interact with one another.

Merlin, Remus.

Sirius had caught himself multiple times staring at the werewolf. Just to simply look at him. James had caught him too and told him to talk to him. But Sirius never found the courage to. As much as he wanted Remus back, as much as he still loved him...he feared they could never be like they once were. He didn't know if Remus even still loved him like he did.

He never asked.

He didn't think he was going to. And in all honesty, this was driving James up a wall. Both his mates were oblivious to each other's feelings. Sirius never realized the longing looks Remus would send his way, just like Remus never noticed Sirius' sad and loving stares. And they say that James is the oblivious one. Honestly.

Even his own son had noticed the looks, and Harry _was_ oblivious. It wasn't that the boy purposefully ignored things around him, he was just too immersed in his thoughts to pay attention to things around him. But Harry had noticed how Sirius would stare at Remus, anyone would. Except the two in question. Much to Harry's disappointment.

He wanted his uncles to be happy.

But they were both oblivious, and idiots. So Harry never voiced his thoughts, never asked them why they weren't together. Maybe he will another day. His mind was preoccupied with the Weasley's at the current moment.

"Alright, who wants to play Quidditch?" James asked excitedly.

"Oh, oh! I do, I do!" Sirius said like an excited kid, which caused everyone to laugh. James lead everyone outside and towards their pitch, which caused the Weasley's to stare wide-eyed. "I have a bunch of extra brooms you all may use. Feel free to grab whichever one you want."

The Weasley's excitedly grabbed brooms and followed both Potter's out onto their pitch.

James turned to face them but saw Ginny grumpily sitting down onto the ground and crossing her arms over her chest. James looked over to Bill with a raised eyebrow. "She wants to play," Bill said simply looking over at his sister sympathetically.

"Why can't she play?" Sirius asked raising an eyebrow, placing a hand on his hip.

"Mum said no." Charlie shrugged. James hummed and looked at Ginny as she pouted, looking at her brothers with envy. James smiled sadly over at the youngest Weasley and turned to the boys, all of the mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground. The eldest Potter looked back down towards Ginny, who was now accompanied by Remus who seemed to be talking to her about something. Making the young girl laugh.

As their game of Quidditch began and raged on, Remus stood up and began to yell up to Sirius and James.

"James! Sirius! Your mother is here!"

James and Sirius immediately stopped flying, knowing who Remus was referring to. "Minnie's here!?" Sirius asked excitedly, and when he saw Remus nod both men descended from the sky quickly and ran inside like excited children. Harry slowly descended from the sky and quickly followed after his father.

Harry had heard stories from his uncles and father about 'Minnie' and was anxious to meet the woman. Remus followed Harry inside with Ginny and the other Weasley's not far behind. Harry saw his father and godfather hugging a woman who was wearing emerald green robes tightly. The woman pulled away from the two, and Harry could see that her eyes were slightly teary.

"I'm glad both of you are alright."

"Would you like to meet Harry, Minnie?"

"Did you just call Professor McGonagall "Minnie"?" Bill asked a bit wide-eyed. Minnie or McGonagall turned to Bill and smiled fondly at him. "Hello, Mr. Weasley." She greeted.

Harry then saw how the older witch turned and looked at him, and smiled kindly. Harry felt his nerves spike up and he absentmindedly hid himself behind Remus. Remus chuckled and placed a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"He's a bit shy," James said smiling over at McGonagall who nodded and looked back over at Harry. "He looks just like you, James. But his eyes...he has Lily's eyes."

"He's also a lot like her, Minnie. I'm thankful for that."

"As am I. Seeing as though he will be attending Hogwarts in three years' time. I don't need to deal with another reckless Potter." James couldn't help but smiled proudly at this, which caused Remus to roll his eyes. "I'm thankful there won't be another Potter and Black duo."

Sirius barked with laughter and wrapped his arms around both McGonagall and James. "Oh but you miss us, dear Minnie! You loved us."

"I loved Mr. Lupin."

"He was just as bad as us! If not worse!" James yelled. Which caused Minnie to smirk a bit. "Yes, but unlike you two, he was smart enough not to get caught." Sirius and James gasped dramatically which caused everyone in the room to laugh.

"She's not wrong, you know," Remus said smugly looking at his two best friends.

This is how the rest of the evening went, with laughter and jokes. Harry couldn't ask for anything better. He had also gotten the courage to talk to McGonagall, who Harry instantly felt a connection with and had accidentally called her 'Aunt Minnie' at one point in the evening. When he noticed what he had done he tried to apologize, but McGonagall wouldn't let him. Said that she didn't mind him calling her that, but once he started at Hogwarts he is to call her Professor McGonagall like all the other students.

Harry couldn't stop the smile on his face. Today was perfect. He was so happy, he felt so loved. He was looking forward to other birthdays with his family.

\-----

On the same night, a young boy was sitting in the library with his mother. Sitting intently and eagerly listening to one of the many stories she would share with him about her cousin. He had never met him before, but he begged his mother to tell him more stories about him.

He loved how brave he sounded, how caring and noble he seemed to be. His mother's cousin was the complete opposite of his father who was cool, and dark. His father only cared for himself and wouldn't mind putting people down if it meant his success. His mother was also a bit cool and dark, but unlike his father, she cared and she loved. She was bright when around her son, he had noticed.

Draco didn't like his father much, didn't like how he would talk down to his mother and himself whenever they would express emotion. Draco liked the stories of his cousin, Sirius Black, who had been kicked out of the family simply because he didn't share the same twisted views his family did.

He remembers his mother saying that she had once believed those views to be correct, but when the war began she had realized her mistake and swore if she were to ever have children she would raise them better than to follow such backward views. She would teach them about her cousin and sister, would talk about them when the rest of her family refused to do so.

And Draco loved them. He loved hearing about the antics his cousin would get into at school, loved hearing how once out of school he immediately fought in the war for what he believed in. Draco didn't want to be like his father, he didn't want to be controlling. That had hurt his mother, which made his mother upset.

Draco wanted to be brave. He wanted to be able to protect his mother as Sirius did with his friends. He wanted to be like his cousin. And Narcissa found this to be endearing but also concerning. Though she liked her cousin, she had to admit he had done some pretty dangerous and rash things that she never wanted her son to do.

Maybe it was a mistake telling him these stories, but she loved how his face would light up. How excited he got whenever she would talk about him. So she promised herself that one day she will let her son meet her cousin, that she would reach out to him and apologize for not sticking up for him sooner.

She missed her cousin dearly, just like she missed her sister.

One day she will find a way to reach out to them without Lucius knowing. One day. 


	8. Padfoot and Moony

It had been a couple of months since Harry's birthday, and Remus was sitting at the kitchen table with the small boy drinking tea and reading the Prophet. Harry sat at the table and kicked his legs in his seat. It had become a tradition of sorts for Harry and Remus to sit in the kitchen together in the morning and drink tea as they waited for the other two to wake up. Harry was used to waking up early due to Petunia waking him up every morning to cook breakfast.

Harry enjoyed cooking, he did, but when he moved in with his father he had learned that it wasn't his responsibility to cook. That he didn't have to. But it never stopped Harry from helping either of them in the kitchen. In the morning he would help his father make breakfast, he'd help Remus with lunch, and help his father once again when it was time for dinner. Sirius didn't cook, he didn't know how to really, and James was terrified to find out what would happen if he left Sirius in the kitchen.

That was another thing Harry had to get used to, was actually eating. He was used to getting scraps or not eating at all, which is why he was so small. Harry didn't realize how this worried the werewolf, and how he would sneak more food onto the boy's plate when he wasn't looking. Harry found out what Remus was doing after a couple of weeks of the man doing so, but didn't say anything. He knew he was doing this because he cared, and that made Harry happy to finally live with people who care about him.

So Harry wanted to do anything to make sure that they were all happy. Sometimes Harry would catch his dad sitting in his room crying, Harry knew it was because he missed his mum. Harry did too. So whenever Harry would find James crying, mourning his wife, Harry would silently join him. Would sit next to his dad and cling onto him, both Potter's comforting each other. James knew he would never get over his wife's death completely, but having Harry and his friends with him were helping him cope a lot.

He knew deep down he will always love Lily, how could he not? He doesn't think he will move on and find someone else, it doesn't feel right. But he knows Lily wouldn't want him to be sad or mourn for her every day of his life. She would want him to be happy without feeling guilty, she would want him to tell their son stories about her. And that is what he planned on doing. For her. For Lily.

And Harry loved hearing stories about his mom, how she was smart, and always yelling at James whenever he was being a prat. How she was brave and was willing to stand up for what she believed in. Harry loved it, he heard so many different things from his father, from his godfather, and his uncle. So many amazing stories about his mom, about them when they were in Hogwarts.

Harry looked up at Remus and smiled brightly at the man, remembering how animated he would get when he would tell him stories. Harry loved seeing Remus smile, he loved seeing all of them smile. But Remus' smile was contagious, just like how his father's laugh was contagious. Harry noticed certain things that would make his uncle smile, one of them is telling him stories. Which Harry loved.

But another thing that would make Moony smile, was Sirius. Harry had noticed how Remus' face would light up whenever he saw the man enter the room. It was the same way his father's face would light up whenever he talked about his mum. Sirius' face would also light up whenever he saw or heard Remus, Harry noticed. And Harry doesn't notice many things.

But he knows his uncles are in love, he can see it. He saw it at the Weasley's when Mr. Weasley returned home from work, and Mrs. Weasley's face lit up so brightly.

"What are you thinking about, Harry?"

Harry's bright green eyes looked up to meet Remus' amber ones. Remus tilted his head at the young boy, waiting for his answer. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinkin' Moony."

"Oh?" Remus raised an eyebrow and set his cup of tea down. "What about?"

"You and Padfoot." Remus was taken aback. Why would Harry be thinking about him and Sirius? Had James said something? No, that doesn't sound like something James would do without him knowing. James, surprisingly, isn't a gossiper. Especially if it isn't his business to share. But if James were to tell Harry about how him and Sirius, James would tell him.

"What about us, Harry?"

Harry sat his cup down and began to think. Looking down at his cup before looking up to once again meet Remus' amber eyes.

"You two love each other, but you're not saying anything to the other. Why?"

Remus blinked and felt his face becoming hot. This kid, Harry was so much like his mother. Lily had asked Remus the same thing back in their sixth year. Harry was observant when he wanted to be and was smart as well. But Remus was still utterly shocked that Harry had noticed, had figured out that Remus still loved Sirius.

"A lot happened, Harry."

"Like what? I'm sure whatever it is didn't stop Padfoot from loving you, Moony."

Remus stared at Harry, who stared right back at him. His expression not showing any sign of nervousness or confusion. Harry knew what he was talking about, and Remus knew he wasn't going to back down from this conversation. Lily had done the same thing sixth year, had stared at him with the same expression until he came clean with his feelings towards Sirius. It had been an eventful evening with Lily.

"He's right, you know." Remus felt his body tense and his eyes grow wide when he heard the voice. His eyes refused to look over to see him, he knew who it was. But Harry looked over to look at his godfather and smiled kindly at him. Sirius, of course, smiled back at him. Harry watched as Sirius' eyes moved from him to Remus, and lingered there for what seemed like a very long time.

"I'll leave you two alone," Harry said as he hopped up from his chair and made his way out of the kitchen, walking up the stairs to his father's room. James turned around as he finished putting on his shirt and looked at his son confused. "Moony and Padfoot are finally going to talk." Harry confidently said and sat down on his dad's bed. James smiled proudly at Harry and sat down next to his son. "It's about time, don't you think?"

"Absolutely."

Back downstairs, Sirius was looking at Remus who was still avoiding eye contact. He couldn't blame him really, Sirius was scared out of his mind that Remus would still hate him for what he has done. It was like fifth-year all over again when Sirius pulled that "prank". Remus didn't look at him for weeks, and Sirius avoided everyone all together. That was until Lily found him in an abandoned classroom and took him back to the common room where James, Peter, and Remus were all sitting.

Lily had helped him that day, had helped all of them. Remus was mad at Sirius but was disappointed mostly. But had forgiven him. Sirius didn't deserve Remus' forgiveness then, he had betrayed his trust. But right now, Sirius once again believed he didn't deserve Remus' forgiveness. He had believed him to be the spy! He had argued with him, had yelled at him for it. And then he got himself thrown in Azkaban, and Remus was alone.

Sirius promised he would never leave him alone. But he did. He hurt him again. He was awful.

"Stop that, Sirius."

Sirius looked at Remus confused. Remus had a stern stare now as he looked at Sirius. "Stop blaming yourself. You know I hate it when you do that."

"I can't help it, Moons. I've hurt you more than once."

"You did not."

"Yes, I did!" Sirius' tone was getting wobbly. _No,_ he told himself, _I'm not going to cry. "_ I got myself locked up in Azkaban instead of doing what James had told me! I believed you were the spy, Remus! I left you alone! I promised you I wouldn't! I broke another promise. I..." before he could continue blaming himself more he had felt arms wrap themselves around his middle and pull him into a firm chest.

The smell of chocolate and parchment seemed to wrap around him as well, and it seemed to calm him down drastically. "I believed you to have been the spy too, Sirius. I'm not innocent in the blame game, you know. You didn't purposefully go to Azkaban. So stop blaming yourself for that."

"I was an idiot for going after Pettigrew though."

"I wasn't saying you weren't, love."

Sirius felt a lump in his throat but still refused to cry, it was a stupid reason to cry anyway. All Remus did was call him "love". Even though Sirius hadn't heard him call him that in six years. Sirius felt himself cling to the back of Remus' sweater.

"You know I've forgiven you, right? I always have." Sirius looked up at Remus, who was looking down at him sadly.

"I'm not mad at you either, you know." Sirius watched as Remus' face washed over with relief, and no longer looked so stressed. Before the raven-haired man could say anything about it, Remus had leaned down and hid his face in Sirius' shoulder.

They stood like that for a while. Peacefully holding each other in the kitchen. Not saying anything more than they already had, scared their voices would break and they would begin to cry. Which Sirius thought was stupid, he wasn't a crier. He refused. Punk Rock doesn't cry. But Merlin Remus had to speak, he had to say those four bloody words.

"I love you, Sirius."

"Bloody hell, Moony. I'm trying _not_ to cry." Remus laughed at this and pulled away from Sirius, who was fighting off the tears that seemed to be forming in his eyes. Remus smirked when he saw those grey eyes glaring up at him. Before the curly-haired man could say anything to tease to the shorter, he felt his face being pulled down onto a pair of lips.

Once he realized what was happening, he kissed back.

"It was about time! Don't you think so, Harry?" Both men pulled apart and turned to look at James who had Harry resting on his shoulders. Harry nodded enthusiastically and smiled brightly at his uncles. James smirked at his two best friends and winked before entering the kitchen completely.

"Now enough snogging in the kitchen before I lose my appetite."

——-

**2 years later, May 1st, 1989**

Harry stood with a bright smile on his face. He was so happy, but not for himself. But for his uncles. It had been an eventful year for their "abnormal" household and Harry wouldn't want it any other way.

A year after Remus and Sirius finally talked and realized they still loved each other, they had gotten married. (Mostly by James and Harry's request because they were tired of the tiptoeing around _that_ question). The Weasley's, Longbottom's, McGonagall, Tonks', and Dumbledore had all been present at the wedding.

Harry had found out that his father was Neville Longbottom's godfather, and that he would be visiting a lot more often. Which Harry didn't mind, he liked Neville. Harry also met Nymphadora, or a Tonks as she asked to be called, and absolutely loved her. She was able to change her hair color! And her appearance!

But this wasn't why Harry was happy right now, at this very moment. No. Harry was happy because his uncles were going to be fathers. He wasn't entirely sure how it was even happening, all Harry remembers is his godfather saying something about "Black Family magic book," or something that would help allow them to have a child.

They just needed a "surrogate,"...whatever that was, to hold the baby until it was fully developed. Harry understood that it was going to be theirs, that they had combined their blood together as well as their magic.

He also knew that Andromeda would be the "surrogate," or "baby holder," is what Sirius and his father liked to say. Harry didn't care how this whole thing was possible, his uncles were having a kid! And Harry couldn't sit still in the hospital as he waited for one of them to come and say that he and James can go see it.

"It"...they didn't know the gender yet. Not that it mattered. He remembered hearing Sirius saying something about not really caring, and wanting it to be a surprise. But they were going to find out soon, Harry saw Sirius coming out of the room smiling brightly.

"You ready to meet her?"

"Her? Pads you had a daughter!?" James was smiling brightly now as he stood. Sirius nodded and waved for the Potter's to follow him, which they gladly did.

When they walked in they saw Andromeda laying in the bed, looking over at Remus with a fond smile on her face as she watched him hold his daughter. Harry stayed close to his father, trying not to make a bunch of noise. Scared he'll disturb the small bundle in Remus' arms. James slowly walked over and stood next to his friend, looking down at the baby with a huge smile on his face.

"She so small, Moony."

"Would you like to hold her, James?"

James nodded and watched as Remus slowly stood, letting James take the seat before handing the small girl into his arms. The small baby squirmed a bit in his arms, realizing she was no longer in the arms of one of her fathers she opened her eyes to see who had taken her. "She has your eyes, Rem." James also had to admit that the small child looked like Remus as well, but the hair. That was Sirius.

"I'm still worried that she'll...she'll have _it_."

"If she does, Remus...you'll be there for her. She will be fine."

"But-"

"No. None of that. I don't want to hear it." James quickly cut him off and looked back down at the small baby in his arms. "What I want to hear is what her name is."

"Hope," Sirius said with a smile, and then he quickly glanced over at Remus before continuing. "Hope Lily." James looked up at Sirius with slightly wide eyes before they softened and looked back down. Harry smiled down at Hope, knowing that if his mum were here she would cry over the fact that they had named their daughter after her...well...her middle name. Still, Harry knew his mum would love it. And he knew his dad did too.

"We would like you to be the godfather, Prongs," Remus said as he stood next to James, looking down at his daughter.

"We would've asked Harry. But he's a little young."

Both Potter's laughed and James looked up at his friends. "I would love to." He smiled brightly.

"Andy his her godmother, of course," Andy smirked at this and turned to look at Sirius. "Could you bring in Nymphadora? She'd want to meet her new cousin." Sirius smirked and turned to once again leave the room. Harry chuckled when he heard Sirius calling out for Tonks and hearing her yell at him for calling her "Nymphie." 


	9. Eleven

**July 31st, 1991**

Harry woke up in his bed feeling a bit sore from his sleep. He sat up from his bed and stretched, which had caused a couple of his bones to pop in the process. Harry grunted in response and placed his glasses on his face and quickly hopping out of his bed, and making his way down to the kitchen.

"Mornin' Uncle Moony."

"Good morning, Harry." Remus chuckled as he watched the tired boy make himself a cup of tea before sitting down at the table.

"Happy birthday, Harry." Harry looked up at his uncle. He had almost forgotten it was his birthday today. "You also know what that means. Right, Harry?" Remus smirked a bit as he watched Harry's confused expression turn into one of excitement.

"My Hogwarts letter!"

"Hogwarts!" Hope said happily from her father's lap, who smiled fondly at her. The amber-eyed girl looked up at her father and smiled brightly. "Papa!" Harry smiled at this and started to bounce in his seat excitedly. He knew when his letter would get here, that he would wait for his dad and godfather to open it. Knowing that they both want to be there when he does.

"Hope, how would like to assist Harry with waking up your uncle?" Remus asked looking down at his daughter with a mischievous smile. Hope nodded excitedly and wiggled her way out of her father's lap and made her way to the stairs quickly. Or as quickly as a two-year-old could move. Harry got up from his seat and followed Hope up the stairs.

Hope tried to reach up to the door handle, but failing seeing as she was too short. She was only two.

"Harry!! Help!!"

Harry laughed and opened the door to his father's room, and Hope ran in. "Uncle James! Uncle James!!" She yelled excitedly, acting a lot like her dad (Sirius) whenever he was excited about something. Harry helped her up on the bed and then jumped up onto it himself.

"Dad!! Get up!" Harry began shaking his dad while Hope jumped on him. This caused the elder Potter to wake up startled and then began to laugh after a little. "I'm up! I'm up!"

"It's Harry's birthday today, Uncle Jamie!" Hope may only be two, but she was a fast learner like her father. She had learned how to speak and read when she was only a year old and could form full sentences earlier than most kids. She could still only use smaller words, but she was still talking a whole lot.

James' smile grew wide and he turned towards his son. "You know what that means, Harry!"

"My letter!"

James grabbed Hope and picked her up, put his glasses on, and stood up from his bed. Hope giggled and clung onto James as he left his room and made his way to his best friend's room, swinging the door wide open and striding over to where Sirius was still sleeping in the bed. Hope wiggled out of James' arms and jumped on her father.

Sirius woke up with panic filling his eyes. But once he saw the excited amber eyes of his daughter, his eyes filled with love. "Hey, Pup!" Hope giggled loudly and wrapped her arms around Sirius' neck and smiled widely. "Daddy!" Sirius held his daughter tightly and looked up at James who was smiling down at them.

"Harry's letter comes today."

"Our boy is eleven!?" Sirius' eyes were bright and he sat up quickly, looking at Harry. The green-eyed boy nodded enthusiastically and started to bounce on his heels. Harry was excited, not only for his letter but for his birthday in general. Ever since Harry started living with his father again he started to look forward to his birthdays. But not for the gifts, but for the time he would spend with his family.

And this birthday they were going to Diagon Alley, and he was excited to finally go.

Sirius stood up, holding Hope tightly in his arms, and followed the Potter's back downstairs where Remus sat with an amused smile on his face. "While you lot were upstairs the post came."

"It did!?" Harry asked running over to Remus who was holding a letter in his hand. Harry began to bounce once again as Remus handed him his letter. Harry began to open it excitedly and read over it. James was watching his son proudly, and couldn't help but wonder what Lily's reaction to their son getting his first letter would be like. No doubt she would be proud, that was obvious. But would she have cried? Would she have been jumping up and down?

James thought about all the possibilities of how his wife would've reacted in this very moment, but didn't let those thoughts upset him. No matter how much he missed Lily he had promised himself he would not dwell on it. For Harry. He would smile every time he thought of Lily, and he did. He no longer got that strange lump in his throat when he would tell his son and goddaughter stories about her. Instead, it made him smile brightly.

James saw Lily in his son a lot. And Remus and Sirius saw it too. Harry was like both his parents, but he definitely had his mother's compassion and love and had his father's recklessness and taking action before fully thinking things through. Which could only lead to disaster. James could only hope he had gotten his mother's smarts as well. Not that James was stupid, but at times he was. He could admit that.

He watched as his son ran from the kitchen up to his room to get ready. James smiles fondly at him and shook his head. "What house d'you reckon he'll be in, Pads?"

"Gryffindor of course."

"Does the house matter to you, Prongs?"

"'Course not,"

"Even if he's in Slytherin?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow. James turner to look at his friend and thought for a moment. _No, I wouldn't mind that. Of course, I wouldn't. He's still my son._ "Even if he's in Slytherin. I'll still love him regardless. I will be a bit upset though. I kind of want him to be in Gryffindor,"

"You just want him to be with Minnie," Sirius accused.

"Of course I do!" James laughed. The three men laughed and all went upstairs to get ready, Remus brought Hope back to her room to help her get dressed. Once they were all done, they all had to wait for Sirius for an extra ten minutes, they all made their way to the Leaky Cauldron by floo.

When Harry stepped out he saw his father talking to a rather large and tall man. "Harry! Come here! I want you to meet Hagrid," his father said, motioning for him to come over. Harry walked nervously over and looked up at Hagrid with wide eyes.

"Hello, Harry! I haven't seen yeh since you were a baby!" Hagrid said kindly and happily, smiling brightly down at the small boy. "You were a small lil' thing!" Harry didn't really know what to say exactly, but he liked Hagrid. He was nice and Harry felt a familiar sense of safety with the large man.

"Hagrid wanted to join us today, so of course I said he could. I hope you don't mind Harry. "

Harry looked at his dad and shook his head. "I don't mind at all, dad." Harry smiled up at Hagrid, who smiled back. The abnormal group of people made their way out of the Leaky Cauldron and out the brick wall hiding Diagon Alley.

James walked up to the wall and tapped his wand against it, making the entrance open and making the two kids stare in awe. Harry smiled excitedly and walked up next to his father, and looked around. Many people stopped and stared at the two Potter's, but James placed his hand on his son's shoulder and walked. Ignoring everyone's stares and making their way to Gringotts to extract some money from the Potter vault's in order to buy all of Harry's supplies for his upcoming year at Hogwarts.

The trip to the bank had Harry looking around in awe, and the ride to the Potter vault had given Harry a rush of excitement but had made Remus feel queasy. They had to make another stop at a different vault for Hagrid, which only caused Harry to grow curious. "Dad, what d'you reckon is in that vault?" Harry whispered to his father.

"I'm not sure, kid." Harry hummed and furrowed his eyebrows a bit. What would Hagrid have to get for Dumbledore? Harry tried to think of many things that it could've been but couldn't come up with anything. And once they were out of the marbled building, Harry was soon distracted with all the shops instead of what could've been in that vault.

Harry excitedly looked through all the shop windows but stopped short at the Quidditch supplies store, where the front window was showcasing the new broom that had come out. "Dad! Sirius, look!" Harry said, his eyes wide.

"Merlin's beard, is that a Nimbus 2000?" Sirius asked walking up next to his godson, his eyes wide and his face full of awe. James also stared at in awe, but Remus shook his head and laughed. Harry knew that broom was expensive, how could it not be? He didn't want his dad to think he wanted it, he was perfectly fine with the current broom he had right now. So he grabbed his dad's arm and smiled wide.

"Come on, dad! Or we'll be here all day and Moony will leave us!"

"You're right, you're right. Let's go get your wand, yeah?" Harry nodded vigorously and he followed his dad down the windy street towards Ollivander's. When they walked in, the store was quiet, dark, and seemed empty. James called out and walked up to the front desk, trying to look down the many shelves of wands.

Soon an elderly man walked out and smiled brightly. "Ah, Mr. Potter! I was questioning when I would see you again." The man said looking down at Harry. "I remember when your mother came in her first year to Hogwarts, 10 1/4, willow wood if I remember correctly."

As the man, or Ollivander, said as he looked through multiple boxes and then pulled one out. "Try this one out, my boy."

Harry grabbed the wand and stared at it. "Give it a swish!" When Harry did just that, the lamp on the small desk had exploded. This had earned a laugh from James and Harry to grew wide-eyed and begin to apologize. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Potter! This happens all the time. Your father here exploded a whole aisle of wands his first time if I remember." This caused the nerves Harry once had to fizzle, and he felt a smile spread on his face.

Harry went through dozens of wands before Ollivander handed him a wand of Holly, and Harry felt a surge of magic flow through him. Ollivander could see them and smiled. "That is interesting."

"What's interesting, sir?"

"I have made every wand in this store, and if I remember correctly the Phoenix that gave me that feather gave another and that feather is the core to the wand of the person that gave you that scar."

James' face paled at this. Voldemort and Harry shared a feather from the same Phoenix. He had no idea what this meant, nor did he know if he was comfortable knowing this. But Harry didn't seem bothered, nor did he seem scared. Just slightly confused. James quickly paid for his son's wand and they both walked out, making their way to Madam Malkin's for Harry's robe fittings.

"Dad?" Harry looked up at his father who seemed to still be very pale. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh! Yes, I'm alright Harry."

"What does it mean that my wand is the brother to Voldemort's wand? Does that mean I'm like him, Dad?"

"What!? Of course not, Harry! You're nothing like him." James knelt in front of Harry and held onto his son's shoulders. Seeing the uncertainty in his eyes made James' heart plummet. "You are so different from him, Prongslet. You have compassion, you care and you love. He never did." 

"Your father is right, Harry," Remus said smiling down at Harry. "Voldemort was a terrible man, he wanted to be feared and wanted nothing but power. Also, let us try not to say the name so loudly in public, people still freak out about it ya know."

"They can sod off, it's just a bloody name." Sirius groaned, shaking his head. Hope giggled at her dad's words and reached out to him, causing Sirius to smile wide.

Once they got to Madam Malkin's James placed a firm hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him. "Go on in and get your robes fitted, You uncles and I are going to go get something real quick. Okay?" Harry nodded and smiled up at his father.

Harry walked into the small store and a short woman walking over to him with a kind smile. "Hello, dear. Hogwarts?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Very good, go stand on the stool over there and I'll get you fitted." Harry nodded and walked over to the stool and stood. Another young boy stood on the stool next to Harry, staring out the window with a distance look. The boy's skin was very pale, and his hair almost looked white. But his eyes looked like Sirius'.

"You going to Hogwarts too?" Harry asked looking over at the pale boy with a kind smile. The platinum blonde looked over at Harry and nodded silently. Harry saw something flash in the boy's eyes like he realized something, and the pale boy began to hold his head high and scoffed. "What else would I be here for?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the boy and shrugged. "I don't know. You could be going to a different wizarding school. Or you could just be getting dress robes, I don't know how old you are." Harry countered, rolling his eyes slightly. He could see the boy deflate a bit as if he were having an argument with himself.

"You don't have to act like that, you know. No one else is around."

"What do you mean?"

Harry once again rolled his eyes and looked at him. "Like how almost all other pure-blooded wizards act like they're better than everyone else. Granted not all of them do, my dad and godfather don't. And I can tell you don't like acting that way, so don't." Harry smiled kindly at him. "Just be yourself."

The boy stared at Harry with wide grey eyes and fell silent. No one besides his mother had ever told him to "just be yourself." It was always you have to act this way or that way to make people respect you. To not let down the family name. Not to disgrace the family name.

"So, what house d'you reckon you'll be in?" Harry asked.

"I...my father wants me to be in Slytherin."

"But?"

"But I'm not sure if I want to be. I don't want to be like my father. I know not all Slytherins are like him, my mother was in that house and she's nothing like him. But my whole family has been in that house. Well, except for my cousin."

"My godfather had to deal with the same thing when he went to Hogwarts. He told me how his whole family were also Slytherins, but he was placed in Gryffindor. I know not all Slytherins are "evil" or stuck up pure-bloods, but my godfather wouldn't have been happy in Slytherin. He's a Gryffindor through and through. I say don't let your family choose what house you should be in, that's up to you to decide."

"Your godfather sounds a lot like my cousin. My mum tells me stories about him." This was the first time Harry saw the boy smile, saw his stormy grey eyes light up brightly making them look more like his godfather's. "I want to be like him, not my father."

"Then do what makes you happy, then! It's what my uncle always says." Harry smiled. "My name is Harry by the way."

"Draco."

Harry smiled more and then was told he was done being fitted. He hopped off the stool and thanked Madam Malkin and waved to Draco before leaving the small shop. Once he was outside he was greeted with his father smiling brightly at him with Hagrid standing next to him.

"Happy Birthday, 'Arry!" Hagrid said with a huge smile plastered on his face, holding a cage with a snow-white owl. Harry's eyes lit up and he decided then that his eleventh birthday was by far his favorite. 


	10. New Friends

**September 1st, 1991**

To say Harry was excited was an understatement. The kid couldn't sit still, couldn't _stand_ still for that matter. James watched is son fondly, and remembered how excited he was on his first day. How nervous he was too, thought his eleven-year-old self would have never admitted that.

They walked through Kings Cross, finding their way to the platform.

James felt a wave of nostalgia hit him as he saw the barrier to the platform they were all looking for. He remembered going through that platform so many times in his youth, and how he would see his friends on the other side waiting for him with bright smiles plastered on their faces.

James turned to face his son and saw how the small boy stared at the barrier with large anxious eyes that reminded him of his late wife. James felt himself smile and placed a strong hand on Harry's shoulder, making the young Potter look up at him. James gave him a reassuring smile and gripped his shoulder with one hand, and used his other to help his son push his trolley.

"Ready, Harry?" The young boy nodded, and father and son both ran towards the barrier and pushed their way through. James heard his son gasp at the sight of the large red train, and then heard the small squeals of his goddaughter which made his smile grow wider.

James loved seeing the fascinated look on his son's face, loved seeing how his eyes lit up and how excited he had become. But quickly his excitement turned to nervousness and fear. Remus and Sirius looked at him with worried expressions, trying to figure out what the small boy was scared of.

"You two go ahead and find the Weasley's, yeah?" James smiled tightly and his two friends nodded at him. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"I..." Harry cut himself off, stared at the train before continuing. "I thought I would be excited to go to Hogwarts, I mean...I am! I really am! But...I don't want to leave you. I'm scared to. And... I'm worried about what house I'll be in."

"Harry, you don't need to be worried about what house you're sorted into, okay? It doesn't matter to me."

"Even if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Even if you're in Slytherin, Harry. I don't care. You're still my son, nothing will change that. Ever. And I don't want you to leave either, trust me. It's hard letting you leave for school. But you need to, and you'll be able to come home for the Holiday, you know. And I'll write to you every week."

"Every week?" Harry asked hopefully, looking at his father with those wide green eyes again.

James nodded and smiled at his son. "Every week, Harry. Promise." Harry flung his arms around his father's middle and clung onto him tightly. James protectively wrapped his arms around his son's small frame and held him close. "Let's go find your uncle's and the Weasley's, yeah?" James felt Harry nod into his chest and he felt himself smile more.

The two Potter's made their way down the platform until they saw the familiar shade of red hair swarming around two men. Harry (with the help of James.) pushed his trolley over to the Weasley's and smiled brightly at Ron. The two boys began to talk to one another immediately, and James saw how Harry's nerves went away when talking to the red-haired boy.

James watched as Fred and George helped Ron and Harry load their trunks onto the train. He watched as Fred ruffled Harry's hair, making it messier and making the small boy whine and push the older boy's hand away. He watched as Hope reached out to Harry from Remus' arm's, calling out to him not to leave her, that she wanted to go with him. He watched as his son ran over to him and hugged him tightly again, saying how he will write to him once he gets to his dorm. Then he watched as his son boarded the train, all with a fond and saddened smile plastered on his face.

"You alright, Prongs?" Sirius asked placing a firm hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Hm? Oh, Yeah. I'm alright, Pads. He's just growing too quick."

\------

Harry and Ron walked down the train corridor, trying to find a compartment for them to sit in. Every compartment the duo would look into, it was completely full. All but one compartment and Ron was reluctant to go in at first.

"That's a Malfoy, Harry!" Ron hissed through his teeth, looking at the lonely blonde boy in the compartment.

"So? My Godfather is a Black, Ron. Plus I met him in Diagon Alley! He wasn't mean or anything. Besides, all the compartments are full." Harry reasoned grabbing his friend's wrist. "If he's like his dad we'll just leave and find your brothers or something."

Ron sighed heavily and nodded, causing Harry to smile brightly at his best friend and open the compartment doors. "Hey, Draco! All the compartments are full, mind if we join you?"

The pale boy looked up quickly and over at the two other boys that have opened the compartment's door, and were looking at him. The boy shook his head and averted his eyes quickly. Harry frowned and walked in, Ron following close behind. The two sat down and anxiously looked at one another, not knowing what to say to the quiet pale boy in front of them.

Harry looked out the window and saw the trees move quickly with the train. He sighed. He already missed his dad and uncles and Hope. But he was excited to finally go to Hogwarts. He'll be able to see Minnie! He missed her dearly and he knew he had to call her Professor McGonagall at school. It was going to be weird.

"You're a Malfoy, yeah?" Ron asked bluntly which caused Draco to flinch a bit and scowl. Harry hit Ron's arm and glared at him slightly. "Ron!" Harry hissed and Ron simply shrugged.

"Yeah. Sadly." He mumbled.

Ron was quiet for a few moments before sticking his hand out to Draco. "Ron Weasley." Draco looked up and took his hand in his and pulled a tight smile. "You're not so bad for a Malfoy."

"Thanks? My Mum says I act like my cousin from time to time," Draco said nervously.

"Who's your cousin?" Harry asked leaning forward. "You were talking about him when we first met!"

"Sirius Black," Draco smiled slightly. "My Mum talks about him a lot. Father doesn't like that though."

"My Godfather is Sirius!" Harry said happily, smiling brightly at the mention of his godfather's name. Draco looked at Harry wide-eyed and then seemed to realize something. "Right, your father is James Potter." Harry nodded and was about to speak once more, but the sound of their door opening made him stop.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Ron looked a bit downcast and Harry immediately knew why. "No thanks, I'm all set," Ron said glumly. Harry quickly reached into his pockets and pulled out a hand full of galleons. "We'll take the lot!"

\-----

"Did you really have to buy _everything_ on the trolley?" Draco asked in a deadpanned tone, looking at Harry with a raised eyebrow. The boy in question simply shrugged and smiled brightly. The trio sat and ate their treats as they talked. Ron at one point tried to cast a spell on his rat, Scabbers. And as he was reciting the spell, a girl with bushy brown hair entered their compartment and looked at them.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one." The three boys shook their heads and stared at the girl with confused looks. "Oh! Are you doing magic? Let's see then."

Ron looked over at the two other boys with raised eyebrows, Draco and Harry simply shrugged and went back to eating their sweets, waiting for Ron to cast his spell on his rat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter, mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow." The two boys laughed at Ron's attempt to turn his rat yellow, whereas the bushy-haired girl looked unamused.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, she quickly walked over to where Harry was sitting and sat in front of him. When she pointed her wand at him, his eyes went wide. She had cast a spell to fix his glasses, one his Uncle Remus would use whenever he or his dad broke their glasses.

"I'm Hermione Granger by the way. And you are?"

"Ron Weasley."

"Pleasure."

"I'm Harry Potter, and that's Draco Malfoy." Harry smiled kindly at the girl who looked at him wide-eyed. _Oh great,_ He thought to himself _, Uncle Remus warned me that people would know who I am. Just great._

Hermione stood quickly and straightened her robes. "I should go and help Neville find his toad. You all might want to change into your robe, I expect we'll be arriving soon." Hermione says before getting up and walking to the door, "Oh and you've got dirt on your nose by the way. Just there." Ron's face turned red as the girl walked away, leaving the other two boys to laugh.

"Oh shut it, you two."

The three boys quickly changed into their school robes and anxiously fidgeted in their seats, waiting for the train to stop at the station. Draco looked deathly pale, his leg bouncing as he stayed in his seat. Harry stood up and sat down next to the boy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Draco. You don't have to follow your father's footsteps. Be in the house you want to be in."

"What if I am put in Slytherin, though?" He sounded scared, nervous and Harry didn't really like it. Did Sirius go through the same thing Draco was? He'd have to ask his dad.

"If you're put in Slytherin that doesn't mean you're like your dad. You can be in Slytherin and be you, be good. Not all Slytherins are evil, Draco."

"Harry's right, mate. If you're in Slytherin than you're in Slytherin. We'll still be your friend if you want us to anyways."

"I do!" Harry smiled brightly at him and slung his arm around the blonde's shoulder. "Than you have nothing to worry about! Though it would be awesome if we were all in the same house, huh?"

With that, the trio made their way out of their compartment and out onto the station, where Harry could hear Hagrid yelling out to the first-years to follow him. Harry was looking around wide-eyed as he walked between Ron and Draco.

"Malfoy!" Draco visibly tensed beside Harry and the raven-haired boy furrowed his eyebrows and turned to look at who called out to Draco. When he turned he saw two boys walking towards them, both looked a bit like his cousin and Harry didn't like that. He didn't like it at all.

"What're you doing with these Blood-traitors? Why weren't we sitting with us?" Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. "What's so funny to you?"

"Couldn't come up with a better insult other than blood-traitors?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow at the boy. Draco grabbed Harry's arm tightly. "Harry. Don't."

"Harry? As in Harry Potter?"

"No. Harry Weasley." Harry dead-panned. Ron laughed and Draco gripped his arm tighter.

"You're not funny, Potter."

"I don't know. I think I'm pretty hilarious." The boy growled and stepped up to Harry but turned to look at Draco with angry eyes. "You better chose your company wisely, Malfoy. Your father wouldn't like you hanging around _weasels_." The boy hissed through clenched teeth. Draco twitched and states at the boy with a cool expression.

"My father can't control everything I do, Crabbe. I suggest leaving us alone." The two continued to glare at each other before the bigger one pushed through them, stomping his way away from the trio.

"I am so dead," Draco grumbled. Harry just slung his arm around his shoulders again and smiled. "Nah, what's he gonna so anyway?"

"Tell my father."

"Then I'll fight your dad. Simple as that." Harry shrugged and the trio continued their way to the boats and towards the castle. The three boys stared in awe as the boats made their way closer to the school, Harry could feel his heart beat faster.

He was practically jumping when they stood inside the castle, shaking with anxiety when he saw Minnie standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the group of First-years. He felt the anxiety shoot up more when they entered the hall, all the older students watching them with careful and judging eyes.

Harry felt his nerves die a bit when he saw the familiar shade of red sitting at one of the tables. The twins winked at Harry who smiled warmly. He stood beside Draco and Ron as they listened to their classmate's names get called, watched as the hat was placed on their head (much to their relief, the twins had told them they needed to fight a troll!), and shout out their house they would be in for the next seven years.

"Malfoy, Draco!" Harry could feel the blonde jump once his name was called and Harry gave him a reassuring smile. Draco took a deep breath and held his head high, and walked up to the stool confidently and let Professor McGonagall place the sorting hat on his head. The hall was silent and Harry could tell from some confusing looks from his peers that this wasn't normal. Harry remembered how Sirius had said that most people from "dark families" get sorted quickly, usually Slytherin. But that hat took its time with Sirius, and he was placed in Gryffindor. So Harry held his breath, waiting to see where his new friend would be placed.

"Gryffindor!!" The Great Hall was silent as McGonagall lifted the hat off the blondes head. Even McGonagall looked a bit stunned, but smiled kindly at him and nudged him to go join the other Gryffindor's. The silence was deafening, and Harry didn't like it. Didn't like how certain people sneered at his friend, so Harry did the only logical thing he could think of. He clapped, which made Ron clap, and soon the twins joined in.

And soon it was Harry's turn. The Hall once again went silent at the mention of his name, and he felt all eyes on him. Harry sent a small smile to McGonagall who smiled back and set the hat down on his head as he sat down.

The hat quickly covered his eyes and he was left in the dark. Then he heard a voice inside his head.

" _Hmm, difficult. VERY difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you?"_

 _Oh,_ Harry thought to himself _. I need to be with Draco, he needs a friend._

_"With Draco, huh? Are you sure?"_

_Yes, besides Gryffindor was where my mum and dad were! If I was able to choose where to go, I'd like to be there, please._

_"Are you sure? You could do great things in Slytherin! It's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that! No? Very well then."_

"Gryffindor!" Harry smiled widely and felt the hat get taken off his head. He smiled at McGonagall before making his way over to the Gryffindor tower where a chorus of "We got Potter!" being shouted by the twins and a couple other of his housemates.

Harry sat down beside Draco and smiled at him. "Looks like we're in the same house, huh?"

"It appears so." Draco smiled but Harry could see the fear in his eyes.

"Hey, Ron and I are here for you, yeah? No matter what happens."

"What if I get disowned, Harry?"

"Then you can live with me. Simple as that. Sirius already does, and he's your family too." Draco looked at Harry with wide eyes but nodded nonetheless. Soon Ron joined them at the table and smiled brightly at the other two. Harry could tell deep down the three of them weren't going to be separated easily, especially now that they were all in the same house. Harry looked over at the staff table and felt a pain shoot through his forehead when he locked eyes with one of the professors.

The professor looked at him with disdain and anger. Harry asked Percy who he was and rubbed his forehead. Ron asked him if he was alright and Harry just simply nodded, and chose to ignore the Potions Professor for now. 


	11. Howler

The sunlight made its way into the boy's dormitory where six young first-years still laid sleeping. But once the light hit a couple of the boy's faces they awoke. Draco sat up in his bed and looked around the dorm and noticed the shades of red and gold littered around and realized him being sorted into Gryffindor wasn't a dream, it was real. And his father is bound to be upset with him. Draco turned to his left and saw that Harry had gotten out of his bed and was stretching a bit, a huge smile plastered on his face.

And if it was possible, his already messy hair looked messier. "Good Morning, Draco!" Harry greeted, smiling at the blonde.

"Mornin' Harry." Draco stood from his bed and took a deep breath. He needed to compose himself, he won't let his father scare him while he's here. But he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut. What if his father sent him a Howler? It was possible. It was likely. It made his body shake. He was shaking while he put on his robes and he ignored the concerned looks from Harry. 

He really didn't want to go to breakfast. He knows that Snape had sent his parents a letter regarding his sorting. He had made eye-contact with the man and could help but flinch at the look of disappointment and disgust he shot his way. Draco also noticed how the Potions Master glared at Harry, which he didn't understand. And neither did Harry.

Draco stared at his red and gold tie, staring at the colors that represented fire and the house of "blood-traitors" according to many families in the Wizarding World. He stared at the colors he never believed to ever wear because he was supposed to be in green and silver like everyone else in his family. He was supposed to follow them, was supposed to be like them. But he didn't want to be. And the Hat saw that. The Hat had asked him where he wanted to go, it asked what _he_ wanted. Not what was expected of him.

The Hat had compared him to his cousin. It said that they had similar minds, different goals, that Draco was more mature, which he didn't think he was.

_"Ah, another Black wanting to get away from tradition, yes child I am aware you're a Malfoy. But you are a Black as well, and I had the pleasure of seeing one from that family to break tradition. I had hoped he would help his family realize family ties are stronger than houses, but alas that didn't happen. Yes child I am talking about Sirius Black, you are a lot like him you know. More mature than him, yes. You also carry many Slytherin traits, but are you sure that's where you think you belong?"_

Draco closed his eyes remembering what the Hat had spoken to him about. No one but his mother ever asked him what he thought, no one ever asked what he wanted. But the Hat did. So Draco stared at his tie, remembering what his mother had told him as well. Told him how Sirius lost connection to his cousins and family once he was placed in Gryffindor, all but Andromeda of course. Sirius' own brother had stopped talking to him, but Sirius had stopped talking to him as well. That's when Draco remembered them.

Pansy, Blaise, and Theo. They're his best friends, well...were. Draco didn't want to lose them, but their parents won't allow them to speak to a blood-traitor. Everything was going downhill for Draco, but at the same time, everything seemed brighter. So Draco stood straighter and began to put on his tie. When he was done he turned to see Harry still watching him, but his expression was unreadable.

"Want to help me wake Ron?" He asked, looking over at the snoring red-head in question. Draco smiled and nodded. Harry grabbed hold of some of the sheets on Ron's bed and motioned for Draco to do the same. Then they pulled, causing Ron to fall out of his bed and yell. Harry smiled and hopped on the bed and peered over on the floor, laughing at his friend. "Morning Ron! Come on! It's time for breakfast!"

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron yelled standing up, glaring at Harry. Draco watched as the two conversed, looking back and forth between the two. Soon the trio made their way out of the dorm and down to the common room. Once down there, the room fell silent and the older students stared at Draco and whispered. This caused the blonde to sink into himself and before anyone could say anything directly to him, he quickly exited the Gryffindor common room and made his way down the stairs.

Ron and Harry looked at each other with saddened expressions before quickly following the blonde, running after him a bit.

"Draco! Wait up!" Harry yelled out, running up next to the pale boy. Ron stood on the other side of him, looking over at Draco with concern. They walked to the Great Hall in silence, neither boy wanting to speak in case they upset Draco.

Harry hated seeing him like this, he wasn't his father. Wasn't him being placed in Gryffindor enough proof of that? Is this what Sirius had to go through? And if so what did his dad do to help him? Harry had a lot of questions and hoped that his Father's letter would help him. The trio all sat down at the table and began to eat. Some of their peers sliding away from the blonde once he sat and would give him odd looks. This caused Ron to send them glares, which made them look away.

He may not have liked Draco at first when they met on the train, but he wasn't a bad bloke. Ron could admit that. He was quiet and respectful, nothing at all like his father. He never sneered or looked down at people, and Ron wasn't going to let people treat him like he was his father. Because he wasn't. Not in the slightest.

So when the post began to make its way into the Great Hall and Draco tensed up, Ron sat up straighter and looked at him nervously. Draco's dad wasn't a kind and forgiving man, that much the red-head knew. So while Draco stared down at his food, trying to avoid watching the post fly in, Ron watched it. Looking to see if he could find any sign of the red envelope. Ron didn't notice how his owl dropped him something and to Harry as well, or how Harry's owl Hedwig had dropped something to Draco.

But then he saw the red envelope in the talons of a large barn owl. The owl landed on the table and stared at Draco with angry and intimidating eyes that Ron didn't know that owl's had. He noticed how the boy began to shake when he saw the letter and tensed himself.

"Hey look, everyone! Malfoy's got a Howler!" The boy named Vincent Crabbe yelled from the Slytherin table. Ron remembers on the first night when he ran into Draco before boarding the boats. Draco's shoulder shook as he held the letter and didn't notice how to red-heads looked at each other before standing up and sitting on both sides of the young Gryffindor. One placed a firm hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. He was met with the same red-hair and freckled face that Ron had.

"It's alright mate," The boy said with a lopsided grin. "You might want to open that soon though. It'll only get worse."

"Freddie's right," A boy with the same voice said on Draco's other side. "But don't worry mate, it'll be alright."

"You don't know that," Draco whispered. He looked down at the letter and closed his eyes, tearing it open with shaking hands. His father's angry booming voice then soon filled the Great Hall.

" **Draco! You are a disappointment to the Malfoy name! Associating yourself with those blood-traitors! And you didn't think to send a letter yourself about your disappointing behavior? You had Professor Snape do it for you? You're lucky your mother was able to talk me out of disowning you, for now. I don't want to hear anything else about you the rest of the year, you are not to join us on the Holiday. You are to stay at the School, and if I hear anything else about you, if you disappoint this family further, I will remove you from our family. You're just like your sad excuse of a cousin, a family traitor.** "

Draco was shaking violently. The Weasley twins were holding onto him tightly as if scared the small boy would fall apart if they didn't. Draco could hear laughter, but everything was becoming muffled. His father's voice still ringing in his ears. Draco clenched his fists and turned his head towards the staff table where he saw Snape looking down at him with a sneer. One of the twins blocked the blondes view of the Potions Master and smiled slightly at him.

"Hey mate, ignore the greasy git yeah?" Draco nodded and turned back to look down at the table to see a letter addressed to him in handwriting he didn't recognize. Still shaking, he picked the letter up and examined it. He didn't notice the small smile forming on Harry's face as he opened it and began to read.

_"Hello, cousin,_

_I just heard from my Godson, Harry, that you had been placed in Gryffindor as I had been. I know your father isn't a very kind man, he's a bit of a git if you ask me. Don't let what he tells you get to you too much, it will only cause you great pain. Besides from what Harry had told me in his letter, you are a fine young man and the two of you get along well. Reminds me a bit of James and Myself when we were at Hogwarts._

_Harry had also informed me that your Mother has been telling you stories about me since you were young? I hope it was nothing too bad, seeing as I got into a lot of trouble when I was younger. We don't need to cause McGonagall to go insane with yet another Potter and Black duo, yeah? Harry's father and I did that enough to her._

_If you ever need anything don't be shy to send me a letter, or ask Harry to send one for you if you want. I'm sure he wouldn't mind._

_Sirius Lupin-Black,"_

Draco stared at the letter with wide eyes. Ever since his mother told him stories about him when he was young, he had always wanted to meet his cousin Sirius.

"I hope you don't mind that I sent him a letter. But I thought you might have needed it today." Harry said looking at Draco from over one of the twins. Draco looked over at Harry and smiled at him teary-eyed. "Thank you," He whispered. Draco looked up at one of the twins and smiled at them as well. "Thank you as well, I didn't expect people to care."

"You're one of Ronnikin's friends! Of course, we care." One of them answered.

"And Harry's as well! Besides you're a Gryffindor!" The other answered.

"We gotta stick together."

Draco looked to Ron and then Harry. "We're friends?"

Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Of course we are!" Harry nodded in agreement and sent Draco a bright smile. He stared down at his food and smiled, no longer shaking from his father's letter. The twins both patted the young blonde on the back or head before standing up and rejoining their friends. Ron and Harry slid back over to Draco and smiled at him.

Draco saw Harry holding a letter and smiling brightly at it. Draco noticed the excited scrawl of handwriting and smiled softly to himself. But then noticed how the handwriting changed in the middle of the letter and raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently my dad started crying over the fact I made it into Gryffindor so my uncle Remus had to finish his letter for him," Harry said suddenly look over at Draco with a smile. "Oh...sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's alright. I bet my father's handwriting seemed like a mess, yeah?" Draco nodded and chuckled a bit. "When he's excited his handwriting get's bad and my uncle has to finish his letters. The same thing happens with Sirius too, so be prepared if you ever write to him. " Draco chuckled softly and nodded. Harry turned back to his letter and smiled.

Draco looked back at the letter Sirius had sent him and smiled. He thought today was going to be horrible, but receiving a letter from his cousin and having support from his friend's brothers made him believe that today wouldn't be so bad. 


	12. Potions Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some quotes have been taken directly from the first book itself! All rights to those quotes go to JKR (sadly)

To say Harry was excited was an understatement. The boy had heard so many great stories about classes from Moony and surprisingly his father and Padfoot as well. Harry also was very excited to take Transfiguration with McGonagall. But what wasn't a shock was the fact that he and Ron had gotten lost trying to find their way to her classroom. Harry knew how upset Minnie would be with him arriving to her class late, but he honestly got lost quickly. He should've left with Draco.

An idiot choice.

Harry groaned inwardly as they entered the classroom and saw a cat sitting on the desk. He knew that was McGonagall, but apparently, Ron had no idea. He sighed in relief when he didn't see their professor, but Harry tensed up and looked apologetically to the cat on the desk. Sirius had told him about Minnie being an animagus like he and his dad were.

Ron tensed up when he saw the cat transform into their professor, and stared up at her with wide shocked eyes. "Woe. That was wicked." Harry cringed when McGonagall threatened to turn one of them into a pocket watch, knowing she would most likely do it if it were aloud. It would shock him if she did, an angry Minnie was a scary one.

"Sorry Professor," Harry mumbled sheepishly before making his way to an empty seat.

Harry began to take notes not to further upset Minnie. He hated making her mad. But Harry also knew she couldn't stay mad at him for long, either. She was the same way with his father and uncles too, no matter how much trouble they would get into and how disruptive they were, Minnie had a huge soft spot for them. And she always will. And that now included Harry as well, especially since the boy reminded the Transfiguration Professor so much of Lily and James all at once.

She just secretly hoped the young boy took after his mother more than his father. She wasn't sure if she could deal with another rule-breaking Potter. She watched as Harry had gotten his missed notes from Draco Malfoy, and felt herself smiling at the scene.

Everyone was shocked beyond belief when Draco was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like everyone thought he would go. That didn't mean the boy didn't possess Slytherin traits, even at his young age, McGonagall could see his ambition and cunningness already. She was excited to have such a bright smart boy in her house, but memories of a certain Black filled her mind. She hoped and prayed that the platinum blonde wouldn't have to go through what Sirius had to. But Minerva knew his father, Lucius was a cold and unforgiving man.

But Minerva also knew that Narcissa wouldn't let anything happen to her son. When Narcissa was a student, she was very protective of those she cared for. Minerva hoped she wouldn't get hurt protecting her son.

The Transfiguration Professor watched as the young Potter and Malfoy quietly conversed, sharing notes and helping Ron as well. She felt herself smile at the scene and she turned to face the board and began speaking loudly for all her students to hear.

Harry enjoyed most of his classes so far, but one that he was dreading because of Draco was potions. He wasn't ready to deal with a professor that had house-bias. Plus the man kept glaring at him, and he wasn't sure why.

Harry followed Draco into the dungeons and noticed how the blonde tensed more and more the closer they got. Harry watched him closely but didn't say anything to the obvious anxious blonde next to him. Ron had even noticed the tenseness from Draco but looked at Harry instead with concerned eyes.

Harry moved his eyes from Draco to in front of them, and say two Slytherin's just ahead of them. One was female, she had short black hair and seemed a bit anxious. The other, the male, was lean and had a dark demeanor. When Draco looked up and saw the two, he completely stopped walking and stared at them with a blank expression. Harry swallowed and looked at his friend. "Draco?"

Saying his name got the attention of the two, and Harry noticed the relief flooding through the girl's features. "Draco!" She sounded...happy. And apparently, that confused Draco just as much as it confused Harry and Ron. The trio tensed when she ran towards them and wrapped her small arms around the skinny frame of the blonde.

"Pansy?"

"I've been so worried about you, Draco! I've missed you, it's weird not being in the same house as you." Draco blinked down at the girl and soon felt himself relax. "You...you don't hate me?"

"I hate you for not talking to me!" Pansy smiled up at him and pulled away. "But no Draco, I don't hate you because you're in Gryffindor. Do you...do you hate me?"

"Of course not!" If it were possible Pansy's smile grew wider. Harry soon felt his body relax when he realized that they weren't going to be rude or mean to Draco like the majority of their house was. Pansy seemed to genuinely care about Draco. She looked at him like Hope would look at Harry. It made Draco calm down immediately and smile at the shorter girl in front of him.

"We're both worried about you, Malfoy."

Draco lifted his eyes and was met with the cold dark eyes of his other friend, Blaise.

"You really think we would hate you after all the things you told us about your cousin?" Blaise had a small smile on his face. Harry smiled at everyone and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's nice to know Draco still has friends in Slytherin, then!" He said happily smiling at the two in front of him.

"And it's nice to know Draco has friends in Gryffindor."

"Of course he does!" Ron said proudly. The odd group of first-years finally made their way into the potions classroom and found seats near each other, not directly next to each other, but close enough. Harry got his book out and breathed heavily.

He remembers some things he and Remus went over through the summer about potions, but Harry couldn't grasp _everything_. He knew a lot, thanks to Moony, and surprisingly his father.

_"Your grandfather was a famous potioneer, Harry. Of course, I know the basics in potion-making!"_

_"Doesn't mean you're good at it, Prongs."_

Harry smiled at the memory. He had also learned that his mother was good at potions as well. So Harry was a bit excited to see how he would do in this class that his mother enjoyed. He had high hopes until he met the Potions Master.

The man started class with roll call, and like Professor Flitwick the tall man stopped at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes. Harry Potter, our new... _celebrity_." Harry's eyebrows furrowed but he said nothing. He silently turned to look at Ron and Draco, and each shrugged and quickly turned back to Snape and looked at his cold and cruel stare.

The potion's master began giving a speech of sorts that Harry found himself deeply listening to. Suddenly the man called out to the small raven-haired boy.

"Potter!" Harry met his dark eyes and answered. "Yes, Sir?"

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry felt himself freeze. Hadn't Remus gone over this with him? Why didn't he remember? "I don't know, sir." Snape sneered at the young boy and shook his head. "Clearly fame isn't everything, is it?" Draco felt himself twitch and he shot his hand up along with the bushy-haired Gryffindor. Snape ignored them both.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir." Draco raised his hand higher and made it an effort to make eye contact with the dark-haired man, but he was still ignored.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Harry forced himself to keep looking into those cold eyes. Because he had opened his book, Remus made him read some of the material before coming to Hogwarts. Remus had helped him! But he couldn't remember any of this material. He searched his brain for it but came out with nothing.

Harry could feel his body shaking. The last time he had been treated like this, had been talked to like this was when he still lived with the Dursley's. Before he knew his father was alive. He felt himself tensing up and ready to shut down. His breathing was getting harsh, and it was a good thing that Ron had noticed.

His redheaded friend secretly placed a firm and comforting hand on his leg. Harry's green eyes quickly looked over at him and smiled to say thanks. Ron always knew when that silent comfort was the best when it came to calming Harry down when he remembered what it was like living at the Dursley's. Harry hadn't panicked in a while though, so Ron was very concerned and was most likely going to make Harry write to his father. Like he wasn't going to do that anyway.

Snape had asked him another question he didn't know, and Harry answered the same he had for the others. "I think Hermione and Draco know, why don't you ask them?" Snape sneered once again at the young boy and turned to look at the two Harry had named.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel, and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Harry began writing, but he was still shaking. But not out of panic. But anger. He had never felt so angry before. Why did he talk to everyone like that? Why didn't he just call on Draco or Hermione? They clearly knew the answer. And Harry wasn't dumb either, he didn't let his "fame" get to his head. He didn't even know he was famous until recently!

And it wasn't like he was spoiled either. Harry hated being spoiled, he didn't want to be like Dudley. He didn't want to be rude and arrogant like his cousin was. People like that hurt others. He had heard some stories from Remus about how his father used to be arrogant and spoiled. And when he first heard about that, it had broken Harry's heart to the point he couldn't look at his dad for what seemed like days.

But his dad wasn't like that anymore. Harry could see that. Remus had said it. Even Sirius! They both said the man had changed during their sixth year, that he had matured and stopped being an "arrogant toe-rag" like his mum used to call him. So when he got back into the dorm, he immediately wrote a letter to his father.

And he wasn't surprised when he was called to McGonagall's office. Maybe she will talk to him about what happened during Potions. Was she mad he had gotten points taken away? He didn't want Minnie to be mad at him.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." She greeted warmly. Harry was going to greet her back but stopped when he saw his father standing at McGonagall's desk with a deadly look in his eye. "Your father was very persistent that he come and speak with...Professor Snape about what happened in his class today."

Harry bit his lip.

"Would like to explain the situation to us, Harry?" She asked calmly. Harry looked up at his Head of House and nodded.

"I guess it wasn't so bad, but he kept asking me questions I didn't know the answers to. Said something about how fame clearly isn't everything. I don't know. Just reminded me of my Uncle Vernon I guess." Harry's voice was quiet and he didn't meet the eyes of either his father or Minnie.

"That man is not your uncle, Harry. I can't believe Severus is a Professor. Is he like this with anyone else? Or just you because you're my son?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at his dad but didn't ask. "He was very mean to Neville during class. It's not Neville's fault he didn't know what he was doing, it was our first class." Harry fiddled with his thumbs.

"I need to talk to him, Minnie. He's doing this because of me! He's using his...his schoolboy grudge against my son! I'm not having it. If Lily were here she'd be going ballistic!"

"What do you mean because of you, dad?"

James sighed heavily and looked sadly toward his son. "You remember how your uncle Moony told you about how I was when I was a child?" Harry nodded. "Well, I wasn't very kind to...Professor Snape. We used to go back and forth a lot, hex each other, and say rude things. It was very childish and I regret every single moment of it."

"But...you're sorry. So why is he..."

"I would tell you if I knew Harry. I'm sorry he's doing this to you simply because I was an arse."

"James!"

"Sorry Minnie, but it's true." James sighed. "Just because I was a bully, doesn't mean he has the right to take it out on you. It's not right."

Harry looked up at his father and saw how sad he looked. James hated how he had treated people in his youth, but Snape wasn't completely innocent either. He was just as guilty as James. They both did horrible and cruel things. Snape tried to constantly try and out Remus, he constantly reminded Sirius about his home and abusive family. James wasn't an angel though. He had hexed people randomly for "fun", would torment Slytherin's, bragged. Oh did he brag.

But Harry, he was different. He was so different from him and James couldn't be prouder. He wasn't arrogant, he didn't think one house was better than the others, and he didn't brag as he did. Harry had a lot of Lily in him, and James couldn't ask for anything different.

"I'll try to talk to him for you, okay Harry?"

Harry nodded and walked up to hug his dad. "Don't blame yourself completely, dad. I don't blame you." James smiled and placed his hand on the back of his head and held him closer.

"If something like this happens again, Harry, you come straight to me. You are in my house. And this treatment is not acceptable. You come to me if he does this with anyone else." Harry turned to McGonagall and nodded. "I will Professor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I would like to apologize for the long wait for an update! My second year of college had just started almost two months ago and things have been hectic. I will continue to work on this story though. But updates may be a tad bit slow! I had warned those of you at the beginning of the story, that this fanfic won't be too nice to Snape, but I'm just writing him how he is in the books. And he's not a great guy. And I'm aware of how James was when he was a CHILD, but he matured and stopped. I'm not going to make Snape worse than he was. I'm just making him how he cannonly is.
> 
> And I've already said it, BUT RON WEASLEY IS A GOOD FRIEND. No Ron bashing is allowed! I hate it!
> 
> Anyway. I hope you have all enjoyed so far! Let me know what you think. I need the feedback to help my writing, lol. Have a lovely day, all!
> 
> -Haley/Lizzy


	13. Needed Talk

James Potter wasn't exactly happy. He was quite the opposite really. He had never felt such seething anger in his entire life, well maybe this was behind the amount of anger he felt when he found out Sirius was falsely imprisoned. But he was still pretty angry.

He knows he and Snape don't have the best history. He could admit he was an obnoxious git when they were children and treated him like garbage. But, Snape wasn't innocent either. He was just as bad as James was. Snape had continuously tried to catch Remus slipping when it came to his "furry little secret" as they called it and would constantly antagonize Sirius, speaking loudly about how disappointed his family was and how they considered him a blood-traitor.

James never cared what Snape thought of him because it was mostly true anyway. James was arrogant, he was spoiled, and he was an arse. But Remus and Sirius weren't spoiled. Sure Sirius could've been a bit arrogant, but it was all mostly a show. Only James and Remus could see through it, and then eventually Lily. Remus wasn't arrogant, Remus wasn't spoiled and he most certainly wasn't an arse.

Sure Remus helped with pranks, but he was never rude to people. He was never rude to Snape unless he was retaliating.

But they were all children, and they were adults now. James had grown a lot and he wished it had happened sooner. Then maybe Harry wouldn't have to deal with Snape's sour and biased attitude.

The man could hate James all he wanted, but James crossed the line at Harry. Harry may look like James, but his son was so much like Lily and James couldn't have been prouder. Harry had also picked up some traits from Remus and Sirius. Harry was extremely loyal like Sirius and very sarcastic like Remus. But that trait could've come from Lily too, Remus probably just helped it show more.

But Harry was nothing like how James was when he was his age. Harry wasn't spoiled, he wasn't arrogant, and he was kind. So very kind. Hell, the boy became friends with a Malfoy. And James was positive the two would've remained friends even if Draco was placed in Slytherin. James did befriend a Black, but that was after he was sorted.

Harry didn't care that Draco was a Malfoy. Harry didn't care about houses. That's why James was so positive that he wasn't like him at all.

All of this was running through James' mind as Snape tried to argue with Dumbledore in his office. James never once stepped in, hadn't even greeted the raven-haired man. Snape didn't want to talk to James, but Dumbledore was very adamant about it. James wouldn't have wanted to talk either, but he remembers a conversation he had with Lily where he had promised he would try to man amends with the man for her sake.

And now he has to do it for his sons. James Potter was a lot of things, but he never breaks a promise.

"Oh shut it, Severus." James finally snapped, running a hand down his face. "I asked him for this. To talk."

"I don't want to talk to you, Potter." Snape sneered.

"And I don't bloody well care." James looked up at him with an unamused look on his face. James wanted to get this over with. He just simply wanted the man to leave his son alone. "This is ridiculous, Snape. We're grown men yet you're still acting like a child."

"This coming from you."

"Yes, I know. Very ironic."

"I don't want to listen to your jokes, Potter."

"Too bad. I had gotten a letter from my son." Snape scoffed and James felt himself twitch but continued to speak. "I don't like how you're treating my son. He has done nothing to you, Severus. He's a child. You can hate me all you want, but don't take it out on him."

"So I see he has no trouble running to Daddy whenever he has an issue, hm? He's just like you, spoiled and arrogant."

"Harry is nothing like me!" James snapped. "He's not spoiled. I didn't spoil my son, as much as I wanted to. He was persistent I didn't."

"Sure."

"Did you know Harry lived with Petunia for six years? Did you know that he was practically neglected for six years while I was in a coma? That he was bullied by his own cousin? And you have the audacity to sit there and say my son is spoiled? That he's arrogant? Because he's anything but. He's more like Lily than me, and I'm shocked you didn't see that. Or you did and ignored it."

Snape's dark eyes flashed with anger but James didn't look away from him. Dumbledore quietly sat at his desk and watched his two former students with close analytical eyes. "I'm sorry for the way I had treated you when I was a child. I'm sorry I was an arrogant spoiled arse, but it doesn't mean my son is. But you weren't innocent either, Snape."

"I'm not apologizing to you."

"I'm not asking you to. I don't care if you never forgive me. But I am sorry."

"Sure you are."

"For Merlin's sake," James grumbled.

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to your poor excuses for an apology, Potter. I'm going back to the dungeons. I never want to see or speak to you again." And with that Snape turned and left. James closed his eyes and breathed slowly. That went as well as he expected it to go.

"You wanted to talk to me too, Professor?" James turned to face Dumbledore and placed his hands deep within his pockets.

"Yes, James. I'm afraid it's about the prophecy."

"Right. Forgot that exists. Does he really have to be the one to defeat him?"

"I'm not so sure yet. But I'm afraid so, James. But he will have support and guidance."

"So you just want him to be raised to be a weapon in the war?"

"No. I do not wish that upon him at all. I'm going to be trying my best to make sure it doesn't come down to that. I want Harry to be safe and happy just as much as you do, James."

James closed his eyes tightly. The prophecy. The thing that had made Voldemort target his family in the first place. And by acting on it, Voldemort made it set in stone that it would be Harry. James needs to, wants to, tell Harry. But at the same time, he doesn't want to unleash that burden on his son at all.

Dumbledore believes Voldemort to still be alive somewhere, lurking and trying to regain his power. And the man is going to target his son. All because of some stupid bloody prophecy. James listened to Dumbledore, however, listened to what he believed was going on. James was somewhat happy that the man wasn't keeping him in the dark with this, but at the same, he wished he did.

James just wanted to take Harry and leave. But he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't just leave. But he desperately wanted to. But if Voldemort is still alive and trying to regain power, then James needed to stay to help. He needed to be here to make sure not everything falls onto his son's shoulders. Not when he was just a child.

Harry wouldn't be alone. He would never be alone. Harry had him, Sirius, Remus, the Weasley's and so many more that will never leave his side.

Oh, but did James wish Lily were here. She always knew what to say in situations like these. She would be able to figure out a plan quickly to ensure their son's safety. But she wasn't here. And it broke James in more ways than one. She would've been so proud of Harry, so proud of Sirius and Remus.

She should be here. She would've been better for Harry. She was bolder than he was, more fierce. James was just James. James placed his face into his palms and sighed heavily. "What am I going to do, Lils?" He whispered to himself as Dumbledore stopped talking, noticing that James wasn't really paying attention anymore.

"You should go home, James. And get some rest. You need it."

"Alright, Professor." James slowly stood from his seat and shoved his hands deep within his pockets.

When James returned home he was greeted with Hope running towards him and leaping into his arms. The small girl was talking a hundred words a second, and James couldn't help the smile that was forming on his face. Forgetting about why he was upset originally and focusing now on the young girl in his arms.

\------

Harry was following McGonagall through the hallways. He was sure going to be in trouble. He should've listened to Hermione, but Crabbe and Goyle were getting on his nerves. They had been mocking Neville after he had fallen and hurt his arm during flying lessons. And Crabbe had the bright idea to try and take his Remembrall.

Harry being Harry, tried to get it back. Which required him to get on his broom, and fly after Crabbe threw it. And with Harry's luck, McGonagall had seen him. And now he was sure she was going to take him to floo-call his father.

That was the last thing he wanted, his father to yell at him.

"Professor Quirrell, can I borrow Wood for a moment?" Harry's attention was brought back to McGonagall as a 5th year Gryffindor stepped out of the DADA classroom.

"Potter this is Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain." McGonagall began, a smile forming on her face. "Wood, I have found you a Seeker."

Harry blinked. Then blinked again. Seeker? He'd...He'd be playing Seeker? Harry's eyes slowly grew wide as McGonagall's words finally set in, as did Wood's.

"I thought...I thought I was in trouble?"

"Would you prefer to be in trouble, Potter?"

"No ma'am. "

"Good. I will be sending a letter to your father to let him know about you joining the team. Wood, train him."

And with that Harry was on the quidditch team. The only first-year to ever make it onto the team. Not even his father made it onto the team that early. No one ever did. But Harry somehow had. And to say James was proud was an understatement. He was ecstatic. And so was Sirius.

His first game was after Halloween. And Harry was already feeling the nerves.

Even on Halloween. But there was something else other than nerves that were looming over Harry. Halloween had never really been his favorite holiday, and now he was celebrating it without his father.

Ron had stayed by his side throughout the day. And so did Draco.

Harry had wanted Hermione to join them, he had begun to really enjoy the girl's company. She had reminded him of Remus in a way. But Ron had made a comment as they were walking from Charms, and she had overheard.

"She isn't that bad, Ron." Harry sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, Draco walking up on Ron's other side. "Honestly if she didn't correct you, I would've. Which would you have preferred?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow at the red-head. Ron groaned and continued walking. "She's just so annoying!"

"Again. She's not that bad Ron. You're being a bit mean." Harry said, readjusting his bag on his shoulder.

With that, they hadn't seen Hermione for the rest of the day. Not even during the feast. And Harry was worried. The raven-haired boy tapped anxiously on the table looking around to see if he could find the bushy-haired Gryffindor, but he couldn't.

Harry began to eat his food when Professor Quirrell burst into the hall and sprinted down. Once the man reached Dumbledore's chair he gasped "Troll--in the dungeon--thought you ought to know." And panic broke out through the Great Hall.

Everyone stood and began to run until Dumbledore yelled and told the prefects to take everyone to their dorms. "Hermione," Harry said in sudden realization.

"What about her?" Ron asked in a worried tone.

"She doesn't know. She doesn't know about the Troll."

And that's how three first-year's ended up in the girl's bathroom with a knocked out mountain troll on the ground. To say James was in shock when he got _that_ letter was a complete understatement. Remus had to be the one to write a letter to Harry to let them know that they weren't exactly happy with him. James was still in shock. His eleven-year-old son fought a mountain troll and won.

His son helped take down a mountain troll.

Remus sighed heavily and shook his head. "At least Draco didn't get caught up in that mess."

"Shocking. Seeing as he's related to me." Sirius mumbled to himself, but Remus heard him. He always does. 


	14. Flying

"You three are absolute idiots! Idiots! A mountain troll!? Are you kidding me?"

"Yes, Draco we know!" Harry exasperated, already had gotten a scolding from Minnie, Harry didn't need Draco to add to it. Besides, his nerves were already through the roof. It was his first Quidditch match today and his heart was pounding rapidly in his chest.

"You should eat, Harry. You're going to need your strength today." Hermione commented softly, putting her book down to get a better look at Harry's still full plate of food.

"'m not hungry." Harry rested his head in the palm of his hand as he continued to play with his food. Not noticing the Potions Master walking up behind him. The only sign Harry had gotten that someone was coming was how Draco seemed to tense at the sight of someone.

"Good luck today, Potter. Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you. Even if it is against Slytherin." Snape's cold eyes flickered from Harry to Draco. The blonde felt his body tense more but made eye contact with the sneering man in front of him.

Once Snape walked away, Draco watched as Harry leaned over to watch the man walk away.

"That would explain the blood."

"Blood?" Hermione asked.

Harry begins to explain the night of the troll attack and how he saw that there had been blood on Snape's leg. Draco wasn't exactly paying attention, instead, his mind wandered to the displeased and angry look Snape had given him. The Potions master is close with his parents, more specifically his father. So Draco had seen the man a lot outside of Hogwarts when he was younger, he had even taught Draco Potions before he even came to Hogwarts.

But now Draco is in Gryffindor. He honestly didn't think him being in a different house would cause this much disdain from the man, but it did. At first, before Draco had gotten closer to Ron and Harry, Draco felt alone. Outcasted.

Then he got a letter from Sirius, and more after that.

Draco didn't know Sirius too well besides the stories his mother would tell him. But communicating with the man via letter had given Draco a sense of belonging again. It felt like talking to a father at times, seeing as though Draco's actually dad hadn't sent him a thing besides the Howler.

Draco had found himself telling Sirius almost everything. He would also tell his mother, but the blond felt excitement every time he wrote to his cousin. Telling him about his high marks on his essays and tests, how he managed to sneak his way out of trouble, and how many friends he had made. And Sirius would constantly tell the young boy how proud and excited he was for him each time. It was almost natural, even though the two had never met face-to-face. But the way they communicated with each other would make anyone believe they had lived with each other since Draco was born.

And is if, on cue, the owls swooped down to deliver the post. Draco made a reach to retrieve his mail when something heavy and long landed in front of him.

"Oh."

"That's...new" Harry stated staring at him. "It's from my dad." Draco set down his letter and stood a bit to get a better look at the package.

"Know what it could be?" He asked.

"Not a clue."

"Let's open it then." Ron said as he looked at Harry for the "okay". All four friends began tearing at the paper, and when it was all off the three boys stared at it in awe.

"No way."

"Wicked," Ron whispered. "You're dad sent you a Nimbus 2000!"

"Yeah...yeah, he did."

"There's a letter from him too," Hermione stated as she handed a folded piece of parchment to Harry, who quickly opened it and began reading out loud.

_"Dear Harry,_

_When I had gotten the letter from Minnie you had made it onto the Quidditch team I had to get you something. I know you don't like it when I spend my money on you all the time, but I had to get you a broom. The youngest Seeker in a century! I'm so unbelievably proud of you Harry, and not just because of you making it onto the team. But because you are you._

_Your Uncles and I will be at the game today, by the way. But don't let that make you nervous, yeah? It was quite easy to convince Dumbledore to let us come and watch. Hope has also missed you greatly and so had Sirius, the great baby._

_I've missed you too, and tell your friends I said hello! And try not to fight any more trolls together, yeah? We'll talk more about that after your match._

_Good luck with the match today._

_Love you, Dad."_

"You're dad is coming to watch you play?" Hermione asked, smiling a bit. Harry nodded and smiled brightly. "Yeah! He is."

Draco smiled brightly at his friend before he once again turned to look down at his letters. There were two, one addressed to him in his mother's handwriting, and the other in Sirius'. Draco opened his mother's first, and smiled at her kind words and how many times she felt the need to let Draco know how much she had missed him so far.

When Draco opened the letter from Sirius open, he felt himself smile widely.

_Hello Draco!_

_I'm happy to hear how you're doing in your classes, Merlin knows you're more responsible than I was when I was your age. I'm also sorry for how Snape seems to be treating you all, that may be partially my fault. We didn't get along as children, and we were quite rude to one another. I may have crossed some lines, but even if I tried to apologize so he'd stop being so rude to you I doubt he'd take me seriously (No pun intended.) My best advice for that would just not let anything he does get to you, alright? And if he crosses a line let me know alright? Or McGonagall, she is your head of house._

_You probably also already know by now by the time you get this, but James, Remus, and I will be at the school during Harry's first Quidditch match! Besides meeting me for the first time, you will also meet Hope who has been extremely excited to meet you ever since I told her about you. Warning, she likes to ask a lot of questions._

_Anyway, I hope all is well. And that I will see you soon, yeah?_

_Cheers, Sirius._

Draco smiled and folded the letter back up. With the nerves of the first-ever Quidditch match and now finally meeting his cousin, Draco's heart began to race. And soon Draco found himself walking through the corridors with Ron and Hermione, making their way outside to the Quidditch pitch. The three wrapped tightly in their jackets and scarves to save them from the harsh fall winds.

"Hey look, guys! It's Draco with his pets." Draco felt his body twitch but ignored Crabbe's jabs at him to get a reaction. Halfway to the pitch and Crabbe hadn't stopped. Both Ron and Draco were close to snapping until Ron heard a very familiar voice call out.

"Hello, children. Couldn't help but overhear you harassing my dear cousin." All the children turned at the voice, and Draco's eyes seemed to light up when he saw the lean figure of his cousin standing next to what Draco assumed to be Harry's father.

Crabbe and Goyle stuttered at this and ran off. Causing Ron to laugh and greet the three adults with a wide smile.

"Hello Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin! This is Hermione and Draco. Friends of Harry and me."

Remus waved kindly at them, Sirius smiled proudly at Draco and James smiled brightly at the trio.

"It's nice to finally meet you both, have a good year so far?"

"Oh! Yes! Very much." Hermione said, blushing a bit.

"I've heard from Harry you're quite the smart witch, Ms. Granger," James commented, smirking a bit at Hermione's flustered face that reminded him so much of Remus.

"Ronnie! Ronnie!" Hope tried to wiggle out of her father's hold to get to the ginger, who smiled at the young girl. "Hello, Hope!"

Sirius walked up to the small blonde and smiled. Draco bit his lip, trying to contain the excited smile that was fighting its way onto his face. All his life his mother would tell him story after story about her cousin and Draco wished and hoped he would meet the man one day. How he secretly wanted to be just like him with how confident and loyal he sounded through his mother's stories. And now he's standing in front of him.

Draco walked next to Sirius as they continued their way towards the quidditch pitch, both Sirius and James talking about their times on the pitch themselves and how many times they had been sent to the hospital wing.

"Let's just hope Harry isn't like you with getting injured all the time," Remus said warily, rubbing a hand across his face as Hope giggled.

"I don't know, Mr. Lupin. Harry is pretty clumsy." Draco stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

The odd group made their way up and found spots to watch the game. James' smile was contagious and bright, and his excitement seemed to rub off on the surrounding Gryffindor's as well. When the teams flew out onto the field, James couldn't help but feel a surge of pride rush through him when he saw Harry and just how natural he seemed on his broom. Like he belonged up there.

James watched intently as his son flew around the pitch, trying to find the snitch. The game tied and James smirked a bit at the children's frustration at it, remembering he used to be just as frustrated.

"Look! Harry's moving, I think he's spotted the snitch!"

Then to James' horror, Harry's broom started to move in jerking movements, as if the broom itself was trying to buck Harry off. It made James' heart drop and stare at his son in shock and fear. James' hands gripped tightly at the railing in front of him when Harry had fallen off, only holding onto his broom with one hand. The raven-haired man could hear his friends talking next to him, but couldn't pay attention to what they were saying. Everyone's voices were meshing together, and the only thing James could focus on was his son.

James had fallen off his broom a couple of times during quidditch, but all those times he wasn't so small. He wasn't eleven.

And Harry was small, a lot smaller than he was when he was a child. And James was terrified.

He could now understand why Remus and Lily didn't exactly like watching James and Sirius plat, considering how much the two go injured. But this was his son. This was _his_ **son**.James was incredibly grateful that both Weasley twins were circling underneath his son, watching him and at the ready just in case the small Potter were to fall. And then the jerking movements stopped, and Harry was able to easily pull himself back up on his broom.

James felt a wave of relief flood through him that he almost fell over. He was able to breathe and not grip so tightly onto the rail in front of him.

He watched his son fly fast, he watched how easily Harry was able to weave through the other players like they weren't even there. And he watched as his son and the Slytherin seeker dived after the snitch, the Slytherin seeker pulling up before Harry, and Harry pulling up right at the last minute and standing on his broom.

"Is...is he standing on his broom?" James felt himself asking no one in particular.

"Yes. Yes, he is, James." Remus answered with an amused tone, Hope giggling loudly in her father's arms.

"And he fell off, not surprised," Sirius mumbled.

"And Potter caught the snitch! 150 points to Gryffindor!" Was announced loudly, and the three adults couldn't help the bright proud smiles that spread across their faces. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> I just wanted to leave this note to let everyone know that hopefully, updates will be more frequent due to the fall semester ending! I am also taking a semester break so I will be able to work on chapters without feeling like I'm pushing aside my work. But I make no promises, writers block comes to me often. But watching the movies or reading other fics help me with that a bit. As always I appreciate any feedback you may have, and have a wonderful Holiday!


	15. Missing You

It wasn't always, it had been ten years since it happened. But James would catch himself still mourning the loss of his wife. A lot of people would tell him he would be ridiculous for doing so, but the night she died a part of him died along with her it seemed. He loved her. He really truly did. And now she was no longer here because some maniac wanted to kill their son.

Lily had given her life so that their son could have one. And James would've done the same. He would sacrifice his life for Harry, he almost did. But Voldemort didn't kill him. And a part of James was happy he didn't. Harry needed him, as much as it hurt to no longer have Lily at his side, Harry wouldn't have grown up with a loving family.

Sirius had gotten himself locked up because he went after Peter, Dumbledore sent Harry to the Dursley's, and Remus believed Harry wouldn't have been save with him. James didn't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't lived. Didn't want to think about how many people he loved would've suffered without him.

James sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face. He missed Lily, he missed her so much that it hurt. His son reminded him of her. Harry was so much like Lily and it made him so happy. His son may look just like him, may have some similarities, but all in all, Harry was just like Lily. He holds himself like her.

Remus had told James that Harry was the best of both of them and that James should be proud. Which he was. He would be proud of Harry no matter what because he was his son. And James loved him dearly.

Not only was James missing Lily, but he was missing Harry greatly. He missed seeing the mop of black-hair sitting at the kitchen table with Remus every morning, missed the bright green eyes that would look up at him with so much love and admiration, he just missed his son. He was happy he was going to Hogwarts and making new friends, proud of him for getting on the Quidditch team so young, and proud of him for doing well in his classes.

The Holidays honestly couldn't come quicker.

He spent his days waiting thinking about his time at Hogwarts. How many pranks he pulled with Remus, Sirius, and Peter. He thought about all the detentions he and Sirius got landed in with McGonagall or Filch. Thought about how Lily started to warm up to them, and would sometimes help them with their pranks as long as they were harmless.

He thought about how her Amortentia smelt like his cologne, and how she complained about it. How he saw her Patronus for the first time and nearly had a heart attack. He thought about it a lot. And each thing he thought of made him feel lighter but hurt more at the same time.

That night, it still plagued his dreams sometimes. But sometimes it wasn't just Lily, it was Harry too. Sometimes Sirius and Remus. And James was by himself, Voldemort and Peter laughing at him as he mourned his family.

James would wake in a panic, sweat rolling down his face and back as he desperately looked around his room. And somehow, every time he woke, his goddaughter would be standing at his door clutching her dog plush tightly as she stared at him with wide eyes. James found it odd that the two-year-old would go to him whenever she had a nightmare, but whenever he woke from one, he was grateful.

Every time he would wake, he would look towards his door and hold out his arms towards the small child. Hope would run into them quickly and cling onto her godfather tightly. Sometimes the young girl would just go to him because she missed Harry so much. James didn't mind either, she was a sweet girl and he enjoyed the company.

"You alright, Hope?" The raven-haired girl nodded and nuzzled her body closer to his if it were possible. "Another nightmare?" At her nod, James sighed and rubbed her back.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Couldn't find daddy."

"You couldn't find your dad?" Hope shook her head. "Was that it?"

"Papa was gone too. Harry gone. You gone. Was alone."

"You aren't alone, Hope. You never are." Hope's honey eyes looked up at James. "Just because you can't see us sometimes doesn't mean we aren't there." He whispered. Hope reached out and grabbed her godfather's hand and held it tight. "You're not alone." Her voice was small, and it sounded so tired.

"No. I'm not alone."

\---------------

One morning James found himself sitting at the kitchen table with his makeshift family, drinking tea, and reading the letter he had received from Harry. James furrowed his eyebrows as he read it.

"Sirius."

"Yes, Prongs?"

"Remind me to punch Lucius Malfoy in the face next time we see him." Sirius looked up at that and tilted his head to the side. James looked up from the letter in his hands and looked at his friend with a deadpanned look.

"What'd he do this time?"

"Draco has to stay at Hogwarts for the Holiday because Malfoy is still upset his son is in Gryffindor. The poor kid is terrified he'll be disowned."

"Narcissa wouldn't allow that," Sirius said as he shook his head. "She loves her son too much to allow that to happen. But in the off chance it does then Draco will become a Black if Lucius does disown him. Narcissa and I will not."

James hummed and turned his attention back to the letter in his hands. Harry wanted to go back to Hogwarts on Christmas day so that Draco and Ron weren't by themselves. Molly and Arthur were apparently going to go see Charlie in Romania so the Weasley's are staying at Hogwarts. Apparently, Harry would've too but he wanted to see James, which is why he had asked if he could go back on Christmas day. And of course, James was going to say yes.

Now he needs to think of what to get the young Malfoy to make his Christmas a bit more bearable.

\------------

James has his hands shoved deep within his pockets as he stood on King's Cross. The train had just pulled up, and many different students started to make their way off the train. James watched as parents greeted their children and left the station. James saw a mop of messy black hair and felt himself smile.

His son had gotten off the train talking to a bushy-haired girl and two other students that sported green and silver scarves. When Harry's green eyes landed on his dad, James saw how his eyes lit up and how his son quickly ran up to him.

James wrapped his arms tightly around his son and lifted him slightly, causing Harry to yelp in protest. "Dad! Put me down!"

"No can do, Harry. I am unable to do so."

"Dad!!" Harry whined. "I want to introduce you to some people!" James laughed and placed his son back down. Harry turned and waved over the three people he was talking to.

"Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Pansy Parkinson."

"Parkinson, huh? Your parents alright with you talking to me?"

The young girl shrugged and smiled. "I don't really care." James laughed. "Oh, I like her."

"Blaise Zabini."

"Your Mum definitely doesn't want you talking to me." James laughed a little.

"My Mum also doesn't want me talking to Draco, yet here I am."

"Oh, I like them, Harry."

"I thought you didn't like Slytherins, dad?" Harry smirked.

"Certain ones. The rest of them are alright. I like Andromeda don't I?" James turned his attention over to the bushy-haired girl, who he remembered seeing before watching Harry's quidditch game.

"It's nice to see you again, Ms. Granger."

"Hello, Mr. Potter." James smiled and placed his hand on his son's shoulders. "I would invite you lot to come to visit over the Holidays, but you know."

"Yes, it is a shame really." Pansy sighed. "Sadly my family is like every other stuck up pureblood family." The young girl rolled her eyes and Blaise simply shook his head. "We'll see you after the Holidays though Potter, have a Happy Christmas." And with that the two Slytherins made their way down the stations, looking for their parents before they got caught talking to James.

"Would you like us to accompany you in finding your parents, Ms. Granger?"

"Oh! You don't have to, Mr. Potter. I don't want to take up your time."

"Nonsense!"

"Yeah, Hermione! You aren't a bother. Don't know how many times I need to tell you this." Hermione flushed at Harry's statement and James smiled proudly. The two Potter's walked with the small girl until she found her parents. Her parents smiling gratefully at James and saying thanks before departing from them.

"Alright, Harry." James began. "Ready to go home?" At his son's nod, James led him over to the floo and the two made their way home. When Harry stepped out from the fireplace and dusted himself off, a very small body knocked into his. Harry looked down and saw a mess of black curls clinging to his legs that sent a smile to his face immediately.

"Hi, Hope!" He laughed. The small girl looked up at Harry and smiled brightly at him.

"Harry! Harry! Up!" Harry picked the small girl up and held her close to him. "Missed you!"

"I missed you too, Hope."

Harry put his trunk in his room and quickly rejoined his family in the sitting room. Talking rapidly about his classes, friends, and quidditch. James watched as his son's eyes lit up as he talked about the things he enjoyed the most at Hogwarts. Watched as he retold stories of what he and his friends had done so far.

He saw how Harry's eyes flashed with concern and sadness when he spoke of the young Malfoy, and how he thought his father was being too harsh. He talked about how Draco was a lot like Sirius, but not as brash. Draco, like Hermione, apparently was very smart and tended to think things through before acting. The opposite of both Harry and Ron.

James had to admit, the four friends were an odd group. But they all balanced each other out that it made sense. The four of them reminded James so much of him and his friends when they were that age. James started to begin to believe that Harry and his friends would become something similar to the Marauders, only James didn't see any of them distrusting the other. Didn't see any of them betraying the other, not like Pettigrew did.

And James hoped Harry would never have to go through something like that. To be betrayed by someone he loved and cared for so much. Harry didn't deserve that.

James would make sure Harry would never have to suffer through something like that. He swore it. He would make sure Harry was happy and loved. It's what Lily sacrificed herself for. For Harry to have a chance at life and love. And James would make sure it happened.

He would be there for Harry. Whenever he needed him.


	16. Holiday Away From Home

Draco groaned as he moved his stiff body. His vision was blurry from just waking up, the burgundy and gold colors becoming blinding in the morning light. The blonde refused to move from his bed, even knowing it was Christmas he didn't want to move. He knew he wouldn't be getting anything, maybe something small from his mom like he usually did. But he didn't want to go down and see everyone's smiles as they opened things from their families, knowing his father could care less about him now.

Ron had been kind, and so had his brothers. The Weasley's, who his father had tried to make him hate growing up, had made sure Draco wasn't alone. Fred and George had come quite protective over him, and Draco wasn't used to it. He was an only child and had no idea what it was like to have siblings. But the Weasley's made him like it, they had quickly become the family Draco needed at that moment.

But it was still weird being away from home on the Holiday. Being away from his mother. He felt empty and hollow. He missed his mom a lot and wished desperately to see her. He missed her kind eyes and warm smile. How she would hold him and tell him how much she loved him. And it was all ruined because he was sorted into Gryffindor.

The young blonde could feel tears streaming down his face, but couldn't find it in him to care at that moment. He didn't even care what his father would say to him if the man could see him crying over the fact that he missed his mother.

He could hear his father berating him in the back of his mind. " _Malfoy men don't cry._ " " _Malfoy's are stronger than that, Draco!_ " His father's cold voice echoed through his head and Draco curled himself into a tight ball. He didn't notice the young red-head running into the room calling his name. That was until he felt someone shake him and he thought the worst.

"Whoa, dude. You okay?" Draco's wide gray eyes stared up at Ron. He must have flinched, but chose not to say anything.

"I'm fine," Draco mumbled. Ron was quiet for a bit, not sure what to say to the blonde to make him feel better. But then remembered why he originally came up to get him.

"Well come on then! You have presents to open."

"I...I have presents?"

"Of course!"

The red-head grabbed the blonde's arm and pulled him up, pointing to the end of his bed with a wide smile plastered on his face. Draco didn't know how he had missed the presents sitting at the end of his bed, but he did. Ron walked back to his bed and sat down.

Draco felt himself staring at the wrapped packages with wide, surprised eyes. He missed the smirk Ron had sent his way. There wasn't a whole lot, not like the amount he got when he was at the Manor. But Draco didn't seem to care. There was a lot of unfamiliar wrapping and one that was very familiar. He had gotten something from his mother, and that made Draco's heart race. And it was the first thing he reached for.

The shiny green and silver wrapping made Draco's heart ache. He missed his mother so much.

He quickly opened the gift and saw a note on top of the gift he decided to read first.

_I'm heartbroken that I can not see you this Holiday, but know that I am always with you no matter what, my little dragon. And I want you to know how proud I am of you, and that I wouldn't change you one bit. This gift to you is for you to easily make memories with your new friends. I had contacted some family members of mine to help contribute to this gift, you could say this is part of a joint gift. I hope you like it._

_Love you to the moon and back, Mum._

Draco blinked away the tears quickly before pulling out a leather-covered book and placing it into his lap. When he opened it, he noticed it was a scrapbook, and the first picture he landed on happened to be a picture of him, Ron, and Hermione in the Gryffindor stands watching Harry's first game. He wasn't sure how the picture got taken until he remembered his cousin had been there that day as well.

Draco then moved onto the next gift and unwrapped it. The wrapping being Gryffindor red with paw prints on it. The note with the gift had handwriting that the young blonde recognized to be Sirius' quickly.

_Hey little cousin! Your mother had gotten into contact with me and wanted to do something special for you this year. I had brought a camera with me to Harry's first match at your mother's request. Though I must say I had completely forgotten I had to take a picture and I'm glad Remus was there to do it. But the picture wasn't all I got you, that'd be ridiculous. Don't let your Mum know I gave you this, okay? This stays between us._

_Cheers, Sirius_

Draco smiled at the note before looking down at what his cousin had gotten him and felt his eyes widen a bit. Sirius had gotten him a camera, an abundance of sweets, and a book filled with all the pranks and jokes he and James Potter had made over their years at Hogwarts. Draco understood why Sirius had asked to keep this a secret, there was no way she would let him keep this book. Not that he blamed her. But this might come in handy one day.

The next gift he unwrapped was unfamiliar in wrapping and handwriting.

_Hello nephew, your mother had gotten into contact with me about how your father was keeping you at Hogwarts this Holiday because of where you were sorted and I wanted to let you know that you have more family besides him that is extremely proud of you no matter what. I'm your mother's sister, your Aunt Andromeda or Andy as both your Mom and Sirius liked to call me. I hope to see you and your mother one day, as it has been a very long time since I've seen her. Your mom wanted to do something special for you this Holiday and I agreed to help. I had asked my husband Ted for some help and thought you might like these. I hope to see you soon, Draco._

_Love, Aunt Andy._

Draco felt his face break out into a wide grin as he looked at what his Aunt had gotten him. There were different types of Muggle books, clothing, and what looked like music within the package. But his Aunt had also given him a muggle camera, which he didn't really know how to use and would have to ask Hermione to help. But his aunt giving him these things was like giving Draco the green card to rebel against him.

Muggle clothing, muggle music, muggle literature, and a muggle camera. His father would go ballistic if he saw these things in Draco's possession. Which made the young blonde determined to keep them from his fathers eyes.

Draco continued to go through his presents, he had gotten another muggle book from Hermione called Bridge to Terabithia. The note she left said that he might enjoy it, but if he didn't that it was okay. He had gotten more candy from Ron and the twins who Draco smiled brightly at. He had also gotten a knitted sweater from Mrs. Weasley. His sweater was dark green with a silver D. Ron looked a bit embarrassed by the fact that his mom had sent Draco a sweater, but soon became relieved when Draco immediately put it on. Mrs. Weasley had given Draco homemade fudge as well.

"Harry said he wanted to give us our gifts himself," Ron said as he walked over to the blonde and sat next to him. "I reckon it's almost time he's here!"

The two young Gryffindor's quickly put on their shoes and made their way down towards the Great Hall. They both decided to wait for the messy raven-haired boy in the hall with the rest of the Weasley's, who didn't bay an eye at Draco joining them. The twins smiled brightly when they saw Draco wearing a Weasley sweater, though.

At one point both Ron and Draco decided to play Wizard's chess, which had the whole Weasley family watching in anticipation. Even Percy.

"Looks like you found someone to play even with, Ron!" George said enthusiastically. Draco wasn't sure how he knew it was George that spoke, but he just knew. The two were evenly matched, but Draco won in the end. Ron declaring he'll beat him next time.

"Did someone finally beat Ron in Wizards chess?" Both Ron and Draco immediately snapped their heads over to the new voice and broke out into wide smiles.

"Harry!" Draco yelled out.

"You're back!" Ron stood up and pulled his best friend into a tight hug, which caused the smaller boy to laugh.

"You two are acting like you haven't seen me in years! It's only been a couple of days. I wasn't even gone the whole break!" Harry laughed loudly. "My dad said hi to everyone by the way," Harry said to everyone. The twins smiled wide and Percy nodded with a soft smile on his face.

"You two having a good Christmas so far?" Harry asked as he sat down in-between both Draco and Ron at the table. The two began to tell Harry the things that they had gotten from their families. Harry also thanked them both for the things they had gotten him. Ron giving him his usual assortment of candy he usually gave Harry and Draco (with the help of Narcissa of course) gave Harry new colored pencils and sketchbooks.

Harry had a habit of doodling on his schoolwork and drawing in his free time. Draco must've seen and decided what to get him through that. Not that Harry didn't like it, he loved the gift. The pencils were easy to blend and very pigmented. He and Hope (yes he let Hope use his new colored pencils) colored throughout the day together.

Once the Gryffindor's were back in their common room, Harry handed them all their presents he and his dad (James paid for them and Harry picked them out). Harry had gotten Draco an advanced potions book, Ron a new Wizards chess set, the twin's gift came directly from James himself though it was Harry's idea. The two red-heads got a handwritten book _filled_ with different spells and potions that James and Sirius had used or come up with throughout school for pranks. The two didn't know they were pranksters, so it was a huge surprise for them both. Percy's gifts were books on Magical Law through the ages and a bag that can carry a large number of books and not feel heavy at all. Remus had helped Harry with those.

Harry also showed Ron and Draco what he had gotten for Christmas, the thing he was most excited to show them was his dad's old Invisibility cloak. The two were wide-eyed when Harry pulled it out and put it on, explaining how it was a family heirloom.

Harry then told them that he had no luck finding out who Nicolas Flamel was, and that Remus said he was an alchemist but that was all the information he had gotten. That night Harry decided to go into the Restricted Section of the Library with his cloak. Hermione did say that was the only place they didn't check.

And of course with Harry's luck, he didn't find anything on Flamel and he almost got caught but Filch and Snape. While in his panic Harry ran into what he thought was an abandoned classroom to catch his breath from running. Harry takes the cloak off and breathes heavily, sighing in relief that it appears he had gotten away with it.

When he looks around the room he sees an old mirror and is drawn to it. At first, it was just a normal mirror, but when he completely stood in front of it he noticed bodies of people surrounding him. It made him frantically look around himself, but saw no one. When he looked back in the mirror they were there. But they just weren't random strangers. He saw his dad smiling proudly at him, Remus and Sirius behind him with Hope who looks older, maybe 8 or 9. Ron is also there, and Draco and Hermione, the twins. Harry also noticed two very old looking people who he knew to be his father's parents smiling so brightly.

But when Harry looked to his other side, a woman with beautiful red hair was smiling so softly and proudly at him. Her green eyes matching his. Even if he had never seen a photo of her, he'd know who she was like it was instinct. He saw his mother. She looked so proud and so so happy. She looked so kind and gentle that Harry so desperately wanted to reach into the mirror and be held by her again. He didn't notice him place a hand onto the mirror on the side where she stood. But he stared at her, watched her smile, and felt himself break.

How could he miss someone he had never really truly met? Why had she been taken from him? From his dad? Why couldn't she be there with them? He missed her so much, and he knew his father did too. And he wondered...if his dad was here with him right now, would he also be able to see his mom standing there with them too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years to everyone! 
> 
> I hope everyone has been doing great and has been enjoying their Holiday. I would like to say that I should be updating more often than what I had been and that first year is coming to a close, but the story isn't ending. I'm just going to continue on through the years in this one book. So it's going to be a long one folks!
> 
> Since this is a fanfiction, a lot of things will be moving away from the canon books and will be moving a bit faster. So if some of your favorite scenes aren't in here I apologize. 
> 
> I originally just wanted Lily to be the only thing Harry sees in the Mirror but chose against it seeing as in the original he desired family, and that really wouldn't change all that much. Harry just wants his family to be happy and well...alive. Ron, Draco, and Hermione are of course a part of his family in their own way so I added them in as well. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you all enjoyed it regardless! Until the next chapter!


	17. The Stone

The end of term was sneaking up on the four reckless Gryffindor's. Draco not really looking forward to going back home for summer break, Ron being very excited to be done with classes, Harry wanting nothing more than to be with his father again, and Hermione is excited to take the end of the year exams. Harry wasn't worried about exams, he felt rather confident in his skills in being able to recall information he had learned over the year. The boy may not have enjoyed studying all that much, but he wasn't an idiot. He was just oblivious at times, much like his father and Godfather.

Remus had pointed this out to the three of them multiple times. And now in school, Harry had both Hermione and Draco to be able to point out the obvious. Even Ron sometimes had to do it, even though Ron would tease him about it.

Ron had known Harry the longest, the two of them being friends since they were 7 really helped the two being able to easily read each other. When they were younger Ron was easy to grow jealous over small things, feeling pushed aside and invalidated. Harry picked up on it rather quickly even at his young age. Knowing exactly what it felt like to be forgotten and pushed aside, so Harry made it a point to always include Ron. To list him first. To always ask him for his input.

Besides, Harry loved Ron like a brother. And would probably be terribly lost without his red-headed best friend. And Harry had gained two more siblings since starting Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco. While Ron was like the older brother you go to plan mischief and play games with, Draco and Hermione were the older siblings he would go to to get him out of trouble. Draco was a very charming young boy, his smooth voice seemed to get them out of the smallest of things. His little white lies always seemed believable with those wide gray eyes staring up at whatever Professor was scolding them. Hermione was resourceful, always had a spell up her sleeve that could help them out no matter the situation they were in.

Harry never liked lying, he could never really do it. Not to his family or friends at least. But he was good with coming up with highly believable excuses. Maybe it was because he had grown up with three Marauders, one of them being his father. Harry was brash and could come up with plans on the spot, but he was also extremely cunning which only Draco pointed out one day. Claiming the emerald-eyed boy should've been in Slytherin.

"Well...the hat did want to put me there."

"What!?"

"But I told it to put me in Gryffindor! And not because of the stigma behind the Slytherin house! But because I didn't want you to be alone." Draco froze at those words and blinked silently in Harry's direction. Ron looked unsurprised at the fact the hat wanted to place him in Slytherin.

"Honestly mate, you're just as cunning as Fred and George. The hat wanted to put them in there too, but they both told it Gryffindor simply so they could bother Percy. If Percy was placed in Slytherin, they would've followed."

"Can you imagine? Weasley's in Slytherin house?" Draco asked once he was out of his initial shock. "The hat considered Slytherin for me too but said I'd most likely be happier here. And so far, it's been correct."

"The hat wanted to place me in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor." Hermione shrugged.

"I could've told you that," Draco said dryly, rolling his eyes.

The four friends made it through their exams, which they were all glad of. Harry had been feeling a harsh pain in his forehead the whole day, however. A horrible sinking feeling in his gut telling him something wasn't okay, and that something bad was going to happen. He had no clue what it all meant, and he was in no rush to really find out. But he had a hunch it all had to deal with the Stone.

Harry believed Snape was trying to steal it, but Draco told him there was no way. Saying if Snape did want to steal the stone no one would know, and he would've gotten it already. He claimed he grew up with the man in his life constantly, saying that the greasy-haired man was his godfather.

"It has to be someone else, someone we least expect."

"Like who?" Ron scoffed. "Professor Quirrell?" The red-head laughed, the three remaining friends following suit. None of them knowing just how terrifyingly accurate that claim was.

\-------------

This wasn't how Harry had thought his first-year at Hogwarts would end. He didn't think he and his friends would try to sneak past a three-headed dog only to land in devil's snare. He didn't think he and his friends would have to face hundreds of flying keys. He didn't think he'd be seeing another mountain troll either, but luckily it was knocked out.

He also didn't think he'd be a chess piece in a giant game of Wizard's chess only to have Ron, his brother, sacrifice himself so that Harry could check the king. Harry told Hermione to take Ron to the infirmary, and he and Draco continued on their way.

"You know, when Sirius told me that being friends with a Potter would result in me going on crazy adventures, I didn't expect this," Draco said dryly

"You can head back with Hermione and Ron you know."

"And leave you alone? I don't think so, Harry."

But eventually, Draco had to leave Harry's side. The young blonde was terrified of having to leave his friend behind to face whoever was going to steal the stone. Harry reassured his friend, saying he would be fine. That everything would work out in the end. And it did in a way. But seeing Quirrell was a shock, and seeing Voldemort was a bigger one. Once he saw the face of the man on the back of his Professors head, Harry's mind immediately went to his father.

What would his dad do if he found out Harry was killed by Voldemort, or even hurt by him again? That's when Harry started to feel terrified, wanting nothing more than for his father to be here. To protect him, to tell him he'll be okay. But his dad wouldn't be here. So Harry had to do this himself. He had to make sure he didn't get the stone so that Voldemort couldn't harm his family once again. Harry wouldn't allow it.

\---------

It started out as a normal day for James. He woke that morning and went down the stairs to find a very tired Sirius and an even more tired Remus holding a wide awake Hope. He and Sirius needing to go to work, making them appear even more miserable. James was lucky a couple of years ago he and Sirius both got their Auror jobs back.

Through the day, his day seemed to drag on forever. Once back home he was greeted with an excited Hope flinging herself into his arms.

"What? No hug for me!? I'm wounded, Hope!" Sirius teased dramatically, causing Hope to laugh loudly at her father and wrap her arms tightly around James' next.

"Daddy silly."

"Yes, he is Hope. Completely silly, thinking he'd get a hug before me." James said as smiled a the small girl in his arms. The small family seemed to be in their own peaceful bubble. Everything seemed right, nothing could pop the safe bubble they had around them. At least that's what they believed until a disheveled Minerva stumbled through the fireplace the following morning, looking around frantically.

"Minnie, is everything okay?" James asked, looking at his old Transfiguration Professor.

"It's Harry."

James' world seemed to flip upside down at those two words. He didn't need Minerva to explain what happened, he knew by her tone that something horrible happened to his son. Without saying anything, he grabbed a handful of green powder and yelled "Dumbledore's Office" and was gone in flaming green flames.

He wasn't sure if Sirius and Remus were coming. And at the moment he didn't care. Once in the Headmaster's office, James began to run out. Not really caring that Severus was standing there. He needed to get to his son. Severus could yell after him all he wanted. James needed to get to Harry. James could feel his Auror cloak flying behind him, tired students staring at him as he ran down the almost abandoned hallways. His footsteps echoing off the walls. Once in the Hospital Wing, James saw Ron laying on one of the beds asleep with Hermione by his side.

Draco sat in between two beds looking down, ashamed. Narcissa crouched in front of him, sternly talking to him.

"You're lucky Severus reached me instead of your father, Draco! What were you thinking!? You could've gotten killed!"

"'m sorry mum...really. I am. But we didn't know what else to do. No one believed us." Draco whispered.

James looked at the bed next to the one Ron accompanied, Harry laying there covered in bruises and scratches. His hair was more of a mess than normal. If it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, James would've thought he was dead with how still he was staying. It was unnerving.

"What happened," James asked, turning to look at Draco. The small blonde looked up at the man and shrunk back, Hermione flinched and began to wring her hands nervously. Narcissa stood and turned to face the eldest Potter, an unreadable expression on her face. "Do you know what the Philosopher's stone is, Mr. Potter?"

"I've heard about it. What's it got to do with why they're here?"

"They went to go find it," Narcissa stated, looking at Harry and frowning. "They believed someone was going to try and steal it, and they were correct. Everyone they went to didn't believe them, and at the time they thought it was Severus. Not that I really can blame them, from what I've heard from my son and Ms. Granger he's been...well...he's been, Severus." James scoffed.

"So the four children thought it'd be best to go after the stone themselves. I'm not sure who tried to take it, seeing as Harry hasn't woken up yet. But I have a horrible feeling on who it might've been." Narcissa whispered the last part, looking terrified as she continued to look at the small raven-haired boy. James swore he could feel his heart stop. It couldn't have been Voldemort could it? There was no way. It couldn't have been.

James walked quickly to his son's side and sat on the edge of the bed. "He fought whoever was down there by himself?"

"I didn't want to leave him alone," Draco whispered, looking guiltily at Harry. "I swear I didn't"

"I'm not...I'm not blaming you, Draco. You couldn't do anything. But I would like to know the full story, please." Draco nodded and began to tell James everything, Hermione helping with certain points. Ron soon woke up in the middle of the story and began apologizing profusely to James, then began to help the other two tell James what happened. Soon the three children were excused from the Hospital Wing by Pomfrey. Narcissa chose to stay by James' side.

"I'm sorry we couldn't meet over better circumstances, Mr. Potter." She apologized sincerely, looking downcast.

"It's fine, Mrs. Malfoy. And please, call me James."

"Then you may call me Narcissa." James smiled kindly at her and turned to face his son again. Narcissa stayed in the Hospital wing until Dumbledore walked in with Severus, Minerva, Sirius, and Remus following close behind.

"Headmaster." Narcissa greeted.

"Ah, Mrs. Malfoy." Dumbledore smiled. "I thought you would've gone home by now."

"And leave without knowing what happened to one of my son's best friends? I think not." James felt a wave of appreciation for the blonde woman, for her caring about a boy she most likely only knew about through letters from her own son.

Severus scoffed. "He's nothing but trouble, Narcissa. It would be wise to tell Draco to...reconsider his friend choices." Before either James, Sirius, or Remus could say anything to defend Harry, Narcissa stood and faced Severus.

"I think Harry is a fine friend for Draco. He has been nothing but kind to my son, supportive and caring. Same with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger. His first real friends that weren't forced onto him as a child." She began, holding her chin up high as she stared down Severus. "And from what I've heard from my son, you aren't exactly the kindest to him anymore. Care to explain why? And don't try and blame it all on Harry, I know about your stupid schoolboy grudge against James."

"James?" Severus asked, shocked Narcissa called James by his first name, and not his last.

"Yes, James. If our sons are going to be friends I suspect we'll be seeing more of each other. Besides, my favorite cousin lives with him." Narcissa smiled, turning to face Sirius.

"Awe, Cissa you flatter me."

"Anyway, I believe the Headmaster wanted to tell James what exactly went on down there with the stone, yes?"

"Of course, Mrs. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, looking down sadly at Harry as he began to tell them what had happened. James was horrified to find out his son did indeed fight Voldemort, in a sense. That there was a Professor teaching at the school with the bastard on the back of their head. Dumbledore went on to explain why the Stone was here, that if Voldemort were to try to steal the stone that he would never actually get it. That the Mirror he left was meant to keep them down there forever until Dumbledore caught them. He never thought any student would think the Stone was there, let alone Harry.

No one was supposed to be aware of the Stone, and Dumbledore should've intervened sooner. If he had known Harry knew about the stone. Minerva apologized to James and Narcissa for not believing their children when they came to her, that she thought the Stone was perfectly safe and that she thought the children were being paranoid or pulling her leg. She promised the next time they came to her, that she would believe them. That she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Throughout the explanation, Snape would scoff and mumble comments to himself about how attention seeking and idiotic Harry was. And honestly, James couldn't find it himself to care what the greasy crooked nosed man had to say about his son. James knew Harry best, and Harry really thought the stone was in danger. That the school was in danger, and he was scared. He just wishes Harry had trusted him enough to come to James. Or Remus. Or even Sirius. None of them would've thought he was making something like that up, and they would've immediately gone to Dumbledore.

Of course, Harry would still be in trouble for doing something like this.

James looked at his two best friends, a random thought popping into his head. "Where's Hope?" 

"Oh." Sirius began. "We ran into Percy on the way here, Hope wanted to see him. He gladly took her for us for a while." James nodded and went back to Harry, ignoring everything around him. James didn't leave his son's side for what seemed like weeks, but it was only two days until those emerald green eyes blinked open. James had never felt so relieved in so long. Harry was fine, he was going to be fine.

"D-dad?"

"Yeah, Har. It's me."

"Dad. I'm so sorry. I...I know I'm in trouble and I shouldn't have done it but I was so scared that Voldemort was going to get the stone. No one believed me. I tried to tell someone, Dad I swear I did." Harry was talking rapidly. "Is the stone okay? Is Ron? What about Hermione and Draco? What happened-?"

"Harry!" James found himself laughing. "They're fine. I promise. The Stone is also safe. Dumbledore got it, and destroyed it."

"But Nicolas Flamel, won't he die?"

"His 600 something years old, Harry. Flamel will be okay. I promise."

"Are you mad at me?" Harry whispered.

James sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I should be. What you did was reckless, Harry. You could've been killed, and then what? But the reason you did it, I can understand. But you are still in trouble, Harry."

"I know, Dad."

"No flying for a month when you get home, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"And no going to the Weasley's for a week."

"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled. "Only a week?"

"Yes, only a week. I'm not that mean."

"You aren't letting me fly for a month!"

James laughed and pulled his son into a tight hug, which Harry hugged back just as tightly. "Don't ever do something like that to me again, Harry." Harry nodded and clung to his father tightly, feeling safe in the warm and firm embrace.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Professor Dumbledore tell you about the Mirror? Like...how it worked?"

"Yes. The Mirror of Erised shows you what you most desire." James said, looking at his son curiously.

"I found the Mirror before it was put down to hide the stone," Harry whispered. James blinked.

"What did you see, Harry?"

"You. I saw...I saw you, Moony, Padfoot, Ron, Hermione, Draco...your parents...Hope but she was older...and...I...Dad I saw Mum." Harry whispered. "She looked so proud of me, and you. She looked so happy, Dad. " James felt Harry's body shake against his. "Do you think she would be proud of me?"

"Oh, Har. Of course, she would. She'd be so very proud of you. Scared for you if you continue to pull stunts like this." James chuckled a bit. "But yes, she'd be so proud. She loved you so much, you know. I'm positive she loved you more than me, not that I blame her." James brushed back Harry's fringe and looked at his son. "But she would've done anything for you."

"I wish I could've met her. It's not fair she's not here. That Voldemort decided to kill her because he wanted to kill me."

"I know, Harry. I know. I wish you could've met her too."

"I'm happy I have you though," Harry mumbled against his father's chest. "And Moony and Padfoot. And everyone else. And I'm sure Mum is happy we all have each other too."

"I'm sure she is, kiddo. Though she would lose her temper if she knew what your Potions Professor was doing to you." Harry laughed, knowing from stories from his uncles and Father that his mother had a temper and was extremely fierce. Something he had inherited from her other than his eyes. Dumbledore soon came in and gently told Harry what had happened after he passed out. Looking in James' direction for silent consent to keep telling Harry the story. Which James would nod to let the Headmaster know it was okay for Harry to know.

James had to leave that afternoon but promised Harry we would be at the platform to pick him up. He said he wanted to take Harry home now, but didn't want his son to miss the end of the year feast. When James returned home to Potter Manor, he was extremely happy to once again come home to an excited Hope running at him full speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that my friends is the end of First year! Onto Second year! I am really grateful for all the support I have been receiving on this story and genuinely love reading through all the comments you leave! As I have mentioned before since this is a fanfiction many things will be straying away from canon. Hope that doesn't annoy people too much. It's not straying TOO far, but far enough to where I'm happy with it. 
> 
> Anyway I'll see you all next chapter!


	18. Summer '92

Harry's summer was...uneventful for the first week. Not being able to see the Weasley's had been more awful than he thought. They were quickly family to Harry, people that he felt would be odd not to see often. And even though it had only been seven days, Harry hated it. He didn't like it. But this was part of his punishment, he knew his Dad wasn't trying to be mean or unfair. Harry knew that. But if getting into trouble results in not seeing the red-headed family, Harry never wants to get into trouble ever again.

But for some reason, he has a feeling he'll be getting into trouble more often than not.

But once the week was over, Harry immediately asked his father if he could go see the kind, welcoming family. To which James said yes. Of course, he did. James loved the Weasley's just as much as Harry. And James knew just how much Molly loved his son. And once they arrived at the Burrow, Ron came running down the stairs with a bright smile on his face. This caused Molly to laugh a bit at the two kids' reactions to each other.

"You would think they hadn't seen each other in years." She laughed.

"Oh, Sirius and I were just as dramatic as those two. Hated going a single day without seeing each other."

"I would say you two were far more dramatic," Remus said, stepping out of the Weasley's fireplace and dusting his robes off. "But Sirius is just dramatic in general."

"And you wouldn't change me for the world, Moony." James smiled brightly at his friends and looked at their daughter with a huge grin. James turned his attention back over to his son and watched as he talked rapidly to Ron. Harry was upset he couldn't see his friend for a week, but he also wasn't getting any letter from them either. None from Ron, Hermione, or Draco. And Harry was completely downcast the entire week.

His son's attitude changed once he was able to go see his red-headed best friend and his family. But the rest of the summer Harry hadn't received one letter. It concerned James to no end, surely Hermione and Draco would send letters to their friends. And Ron had admitted that he had gotten letters from the two and that he even sent Harry some as well.

Something or someone was stopping Harry's mail from coming in. So Molly and James came up with a plan that would hopefully help. James had written a letter to both Draco and Hermione himself but put them with the ones Ron would be sending them, letting them know of the strange mail theft that was happening and that his son hadn't been ignoring them.

James has received a response from Narcissa a couple of days later, asking if it was okay for her and her son to come over to see Harry. James of course said it was fine, and that's how he found himself standing in Potter Manor's sitting area with two Malfoy's dusting themselves off after using the Floo. Sirius had been standing next to James and smiled brightly at his cousin. When Harry ran down the stairs and into the sitting room himself, he smiled widely and ran to his blonde friend. "Draco!"

Both Sirius and James had been heavily reminded of each other watching both boys interact with each other. It brought nostalgic smiles to their faces, and even Narcissa seemed to be remembering the past watching the two run out of the room.

"Another Potter yet again befriends a Black." She said, folding her hands in front of herself and looking towards her cousin. Sirius smiled brightly at her. "It's wonderful to know that Draco has such caring friends, I was worried about him."

"I don't blame you, Cissy." Sirius began, "Making friends can be difficult for young wizards who've never really been able to choose their friends before."

"But luckily for both you and Draco, there was a Potter on the train that wouldn't shut up," James smirked, placing his hands onto his hips as he looked over at his best friend. Narcissa smiled gratefully at James, happy he had raised Harry in a way that would allow him to befriend someone most kids would probably avoid. Not that she blamed them. Her husband didn't have the best reputation, and he was a very coldhearted man.

But Harry didn't seem to care, much like his father. And Narcissa would always be grateful for that.

The two boys were currently outside. Draco had Hope clinging onto his back as he ran around with Harry running beside him laughing loudly. Remus watched them and smiled to himself. Harry shared James' loud laugh, but his eyes would crinkle a lot like Lily whenever she would laugh. Harry was a perfect combination of both his parents.

Harry's head flew back as he laughed harder, looking more and more like James the longer the small boy laughed. Draco looked a lot like both his parents, but he also looked like Sirius. It made sense, they were cousins. Even at twelve, Draco already had the classic Black smirk that Sirius has. Draco's hair would find its way into his face as he bent overfilled with laughter. It wasn't slicked back like it usually was, which caused him to look more relaxed. More approachable almost.

What made Remus smile the most though was his daughter, and how much she seemed to already like the blonde. And Draco seemed to quickly grow attached to the small child, carrying her around and spinning whenever he got the chance to. Much like what Harry would do whenever Hope asked to be picked up by him. Even at three, Hope was a good judge of character. She seemed hesitant around Dumbledore, reached out to Minerva immediately when she first met her, and followed Draco around automatically. She also didn't seem to like Severus much, though that could also be because the man kept glaring at her.

But Hope loved Draco. And she liked Narcissa too, claiming the woman was a princess and looking up at her like she was the prettiest person she had ever seen. She was hesitant at first around the blonde woman but warmed up to her when the pale blonde smiled warmly at her. Hope loved her. And Narcissa loved her right back, spoiling the small girl any chance she got.

Remus was nervous at first, scared Narcissa still held onto some of the views her family drilled into her head when she was a child. But watching her with Hope erased those fears pretty quickly. She also stated that anyone who thinks he's a monster is "bloody blind" because of how gentle and kind he was with his daughter.

Harry's summer was eventful, to say the least. He got to see Draco and Ron often, which he enjoyed. But he also got to hang out with Neville a few times. The boy was quiet compared to what Harry was used to (The Weasley's and Sirius). But it was a nice break from all the loud voices every so often. Neville was a kind boy, and Harry enjoyed his company a lot. He was happy he saw him often outside of Hogwarts due to his father being his Godfather. It made the two boys grow close, and the fact their birthdays were only a day apart from each other.

This caused them to tend to have joint birthday parties, not that either boy minded. They enjoyed it a lot. But on Harry's birthday, the day they decided to hold the party, he was visited by a House Elf. Funnily enough, the House Elf was also the reason he hadn't be getting his letters from his friends.

The creature wouldn't say who his master was, hitting himself repeatedly whenever he would almost slip up. It freaked Harry out. The Potter elves never hit themselves, nor did they were such stingy and gross rags either. Whoever's House elf this was, was not treating it fairly. And it made Harry's blood boil. His father had told him to always treat house-elves with respect, to never hurt them. And Harry couldn't imagine hurting Milly, ever. Nor could he imagine ever treating her as if she meant nothing to him.

He told his father of the strange visit from the House Elf, and James didn't know what to make of it. But now his son was getting his letters. James couldn't think who would send their house-elf to warn his son about the dangers that awaited him at Hogwarts. James did, however, tell Minerva and Dumbledore of the warning and assured him they would keep an eye on his son and the other students as well.

Minerva also swore that if Harry came to her again this year about anything, she would listen to him and believe him. She did not want him to get hurt once more because she was ignorant and didn't want to believe a child. But she knew better now, Harry wouldn't lie to her about something as serious as that. So if the messy-haired boy were to come to her once more, she would believe him. Just like she should have the first time.

Harry didn't know how his second year at Hogwarts was going to play out, but he never believed it would've taken the turn it did. And he almost wished he listened more to the House elf's warning about the dangers that were lurking in the school this year. Then maybe his friends wouldn't have gotten hurt, and his father wouldn't have to worry about him so much. 


End file.
